Shadows in War
by DarkestShade73
Summary: In a civil war, what happens when the Resistance hires one of the land's Top Mercenaries to take part in five missions? How about when said mercenary unearths interesting information with the missions? Or when a strange girl of unknown species takes interest in them? Only time will tell what could happen to the Shadows in War. Currently on hiatus :(
1. C1 - Demolition

Shadows in War, Chapter 1, Segment 1 – Demolition

* * *

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own Pokémon, now have I anything to do with it.  
_

 _A/N:_

 _This story has some parts inspired by Final Fantasy VII. It was the first thing that came to mind when I built this story around the protagonist as she was how it all started, and I only realized later that this was much like the game. I decided to accept it and keep going- I've only played the first part of the game, and I've only watched the movie, so anything beyond that is purely coincidental._

 _Criticize me all you want- nothing is unquestionable, and nothing is free of critics. I appreciate everything sent my way… As long as they aren't legitimate death threats. Hehe._

 _As of 8/27/2017:_

 _Welcome, one and all, to the rewrite for the first segment of "Shadow in War." I'll do my utmost to keep quality this time around, so… The whole "weekly" update thing will just be an estimate- it will be hopefully around a chapter per week. Because this time, I'm going to start triple-checking a chapter before it is released, and then do extra editing if it feels lacking to me._

 _In a nutshell, my uploads will be slower, but quality will be higher. Quality over quantity._

 _With that out of the way, the next notes will be in Chapter Two. Well, the notes below are just an explainer for the "mechanics" of battle to be seen in this chapter. Now, without further ado, enjoy._

 _9/28/2017:_

 _Re-read this now that I actually have the time to do that. Guh. Fixed the lines and the crappy reading for the Haxorus scene._

* * *

" _War."_

Driasia. A nation torn by a civil war between two factions- Periculum, who aims to dominate with sheer strength and already rule majority of the land with an iron fist; and the Resistance, those who fight against the oppressors.

The war between the two factions, or much better, the civil war, has _officially_ been raging for three years, but minor conflicts have always been around since Periculum began to take over Driasia, starting with the government and military.

While the boogeyman of Driasia had considerable amounts of power and land, they have not completely conquered the country- not even close. This is thanks to the Resistance keeping as many places neutral as possible, or having some places join them.

Now, to free a few towns in the area, the Resistance's focus was on a large-scale battle in a city towards the northern side of the country.

The Resistance was targeting seven electric generators in the city. Their intent was to cut off one of Periculum's main sources of energy in the north. Of course, all that power wouldn't be wasted- it would help automate the defenses in the nearby towns, while the rest of it would be reserved for later use.

These generators were scatted across the city underground, accessible only by warehouses, and well guarded by an army of Periculum soldiers, robots, and equipment.

That wasn't discouraging a certain four gijinkas, however…

* * *

A starry sky, a beautiful land with all types of terrain, and cities and towns for the more civil Pokémon to live in.

But not all was well, particularly for one city in the north.

An entire flock of bird Pokémon armed to the teeth with swords, spears, axes, hammers, bows, and a few guns were fighting against a second flock sporting light gray armor with a strange emblem on the chestplates.

Military transport aircraft swerved left and right and maneuvered as best they could to avoid incoming anti-air fire from the turrets in the city far below. One was already going down from a missile sent at it by a Skarmory armed with a rocket launcher.

Before he could reload, the Steel-type was torched out of the sky by a pair of Resistance Staraptor sending a double Hidden Power attack.

In one of the smaller planes designed much like a C-130 sat just six Pokémon- pilot, co-pilot, and a single Resistance team.

The mentioned gijinkas inside were as follows: An Ambipom pilot wearing a purple flight suit, a Machoke co-pilot wearing a bluish purple t-shirt with a pair of black pants, a Decidueye, Braixen, Jolteon, and Floatzel gijinkas.

Starting with the Decidueye, he donned a light tan t-shirt underneath a slightly torn longline opened brown hoodie with green leaf designs around the top of the apparel, especially on the hood itself. The owl archer wore a pair of cargo pants with a slightly darker shade of brown than the t-shirt, while black boots gave the man a distinctive hunter look to him.

Secondly was the Braixen. A short-sleeved plain yellow dress went down to the bottom of her knees, where the clothing shifted into knee-high black socks. Behind her on the seat rested a very fluffy yellow tail ending in an orange tip, accompanied by a stick lodged in the mass of fluff. The fire mage had on black shoes. As for her hair, it was in a fiery orange short bob cut adorned with a pair of short, red-orange "bangs" right behind her ears that protruded outwards slightly. To finish her appearance, the girl slung a small bag around her that seemed to be carrying what may have been stones.

Adjacent to the Fire-type's seat was a Jolteon gijinka. A white collared shirt was half-covered by the yellow, long-sleeved windbreaker jacket over her torso. The jacket itself had a spiky motif of white around the shirt's collar, and just plain zigzag spikes at the bottom where it met jeans just as yellow as the jacket. The Electric-type's sports shoes had lightning patterns about it, as well as a subtle small zipper on the outward side for both shoes. Her spiky blond hair finished her Electric-type eeveelution look. And for unlike the previous two, the Lightning Pokémon's weapons weren't as natural as the hoodie bow or the magic stick- instead, she had a pair of small clawed knuckles that could be retracted to smaller size to free her fingers. Lastly, fingerless yellow gloves decorated her hands.

Last and not least of the four in the passenger's seats was a Floatzel gijinka. He dressed in an orange track jacket over a cream colored t-shirt. The sleeves went halfway around his arms, just to where the elbows were. His orange jogging pants made way for an orange forked tail ending in large cream tips. His shoes seemed to be waterproofed, more like they were built for both land and water. His hair was unruly up front, but the back half was styled going behind him, ending in a sort of crest of hair. His weapon of choice was a spear with a jagged spearhead.

On the left of the Decidueye's t-shirt hidden by the hoodie, on the top left of the Braixen's dress, on the right-hand pocket of the Jolteon's jacket, and on the middle of the Floatzel's shirt, all of them had a small emblem depicting a dragon breaking free of a cage with a megaphone in one hand, a sword in the other, and a sniper rifle slung to its back. Surrounding the cage was what appeared to be a large building with an intricate design about it.

The quartet all hung on tightly to the railings above them to keep balance as the plane turned left and rolled slightly. They chose to ignore the warning sounds, given that no impact was felt and it stopped directly afterwards.

The Machoke co-pilot turned to face the five of them.

"Everybody, hang on! This next one's going to be rough!" He ordered. The Decidueye, Floatzel, Braixen, and Jolteon all exchanged glances and nodded as they braced themselves for impact.

Suddenly, the plane shook and began to weave around aimlessly.

"We're hit!" The Ambipom exclaimed over radio. Out the window, a Periculum Talonflame screeched as it charged in with Flare Blitz. However, a Hidden Power from a Pidgeotto and a few shots from the AK-47 of a Skarmory took it down before it could reach the plane.

"I repeat, we are hit! Star Squadron, requesting for two!"

"Copy that, Looper 2. We have a visual and are coming in hot. Make sure those troopers get out safe, oorah?" A distinctive male voice sounded in the cockpit's radio.

"Oorah." The Machoke replied. "Put on your parachutes, people! We're ditching this ride!"

The Grass- and Ghost-type closed his eyes and concentrated. When he reopened them, they glowed white with faint tinges of blue and orange in the pupils.

"Hmm... We're about to eat up another missile." The archer stated calmly, sounding more like he was calculating a math problem than getting ready to die. "When it impacts, that's our opportunity to jump out safely."

"Gotcha." The Jolteon replied as she prepared to jump out.

The Ambipom pilot flipped a few switches, causing the back door to open up, revealing the other planes behind them and the birds fighting in the night sky.

The sound of air surging forward notified the Pokémon on board of the coming impact.

"Go, go, go!" The Ambipom pilot yelled as he and the Machoke shakily approached the door.

"Alright, this is it!" The Floatzel exclaimed. as he stood up, struggling to keep balance on the aircraft. His allies followed suit and crouched low to keep from falling and losing their balance.

A moment later, the six Pokémon on board jumped right as they felt the collosion of an Air Slash against the plane, tearing the cockpit out.

"Hey, good luck down there!" The Machoke said as he and the Ambipom were caught by a couple of Staraptor gijinka and flown to another plane. The remaining four Pokémon all looked down at the city below.

* * *

Plenty of gunfire, missiles, and moves were flying by the four as they plummeted down in the night sky to the city below. To one boundary of the city, about 350 soldiers led by three distinct figures were setting up an encampment. One of the gijinkas there shot a flare, prompting eighteen of the Resistance birds to fly down towards them.

The rest of the city was in turmoil. A few buildings were burning from the midsection up, a crane was falling, an occasional explosion would occur, and a missile would often come up from a random street and towards the planes above. Gunfire was everywhere, especially coming from AA batteries.

Going back to their previous location, the aircraft was now lowering altitude towards a cluster of the AA guns. Pokémon below could be seen evacuating the danger zone as the fallen plane approached them.

The quartet looked down to their drop point- a wide street with plenty of Resistance Pokémon awaiting their landing, as well as that of the other troops who airdropped.

"OK team, let's make this painful!" The Jolteon shouted through the winds.

* * *

The four of them pulled on the lever on their chute bags, allowing them to land safely, and in the Decidueye's case, land going straight down rather than a horizontal glide.

"Let's go!" The large group of Resustance gijinkas all bounded for the streets where they joined the brawl between more of their friends and Periculum soldiers.

The team of four stuck close and dashed through the street Decidueye drew an arrow from his hoodie, the Braixen brought her stick out, allowing a fire to blaze at the tip from the friction of fluff (however that makes sense), the Jolteon's clawed knuckles extended a few decimeters forward, and the Floatzel drew his spear from his back.

The Jolteon leapt ahead and struck a Golduck with the Periculum emblem on his armor with her claw to his head, knocking out the Water-type on the street.

"I got this guy!" The Floatzel rushed a Chingling with his spear. Before the Psychic-type could fire a Confusion, a pair of swift strikes from the Water-type took it down.

"Let's move." The Decidueye said.

The quartet moved forward, fighting off any Periculum soldiers they met. They moved from one block to the next, occasionally stopping to stand guard in front of a building being breached by another team, or to help some of their allies combat the Periculum forces.

"Over here!" The Braixen exclaimed as she shot a Flamethrower at a Granbull coming their way, sending the Fairy-type back a few meters. With a growl, the foe drew a handgun.

A quick Stored Power from the Jolteon knocked off the weapon, allowing the Floatzel to finish off the target with a Rock Tomb.

"Hell yeah."

"Look out!" The Decidueye exclaimed as he shot a quick arrow at a Scraggy coming in with a Focus Punch. The Fighting- and Dark-type yelled in pain before a barrage of Razor Leaves sent him flying into the concrete below.

"Thanks." The Fire-type said with a nod.

As they progressed further through the city, the fighting became more intense now that the Resistance's forces were getting closer to the AA batteries in the city, and the targets scattered about.

But with that, Periculum began pulling out their big guns for the situation. Synthetic Pokémon, mounted heavy machine guns, and even a few snipers up on the rooftops.

Now, the sides were even with neither being able to push back the other.

* * *

"Hm."

With perfect accuracy, a Resistance Pinsir and a Periculum Gumshoos were knocked out cold on the battlefield.

The attacker leapt extremely fast into a dark alley to avoid detection from a small group of Resistance Pokémon approaching the knocked out duo.

"Huh? It looks more like these guys are asleep." A Carnivine commented as he and his allies rushed to the fallen Pokémon.

"Well, whatever, let's get this guy back to camp."

However, a Fire Blast came at them before they could react. The soldiers all looked to the large fireball, knowing their end would be next.

" _Nothing I can do about that._ " The figure in the alleyway thought. The figure turned and prepared to dash forward, but stopped and turned again when she heard a slashing noise.

She managed to turn just in time to see a Sucker Punch hit the air, then a swift Razor Shell from a massive sword dispel the Fire Blast completely.

The wielder stood between a Periculum Magmar and the Resistance members frozen in fear.

"You boys alright?" The tall, heavily armored Pokémon wielding two gigantic swords asked.

"G-General…"

" _Interesting._ " The figure thought to herself before bounding down the alleyway.

At the end, a Resistance Golbat was getting ready to sink its fangs into a downed Periculum Lombre.

" _My turn._ "

The silhouette in the alley quickly got behind the Golbat gijinka and clapped him on the nape, knocking him out painlessly. The Lombre trembled in fear and slowly stood up.

"W-Who the fuck are you!?"

"Sleep." The figure, a girl, replied as a small orb of darkness formed in her hand. She put the orb to the Lombre's forehead, causing the Grass- and Water-type to fall asleep into a nightmare.

The girl took out a small white gem from her bag and placed it on the Lombre's chest, causing a short lived Heal Bell to dispel the nightmare without waking up the Periculum soldier.

The girl looked around as she stood up before dashing forward down the streets, knocking out as many gijinkas as she could while avoiding detection from either side.

" _Hm?_ " The girl paused and with her reflexes, pulled out a medium-sized bluish purple gem, causing her to vanish into thin air right as a group of Resistance and Periculum soldiers were about to appear in the street corners.

Now invisible, the girl whipped out another white gem, this time larger than the previous Heal Bell. The girl applied pressure to the item. The gem disintegrated into her hand, giving her eyes a white glow for Foresight.

" _That aura... Is it really time?_ "

Wordlessly, she hopped onto a rooftop and dashed around the city, headed for a warehouse on Periculum's side. Taking the legitimate route there would require a few blocks to be crossed, but the alleyways and rooftops served to make the trip shorter.

The girl hopped onto a railing of a three-story building a few meters away from the warehouse and looked down at the gates.

Now that her Phantom Force ran out, she did well to keep hidden from the scene below.

Down below, a Periculum Machoke and Kadabra were laying on the floor, with a little blood oozing out of their corpses. Standing above them was a gijinka clad in white, eating an apple in silence.

" _Well, well, what do we have here…?_ "

The white gijinka down below tossed the leftovers on the ground before looking up at the sky.

" _I see…_ " The girl thought to herself as she stalked the white gijinka. She then threw a flashbang into the alleyway she suspected the Pokémon came from. The noise attracted her attention, causing the gijinka below to pull out a sword with a distinctive look and dash into the alley.

The girl quickly hopped over to the corpses and set down a small box from her bag onto the ground. She then hopped away to a different hiding spot, narrowly evading the Pokémon's vision.

"Hmph… They're taking their sweet time." The Pokémon muttered to herself. She sheathed her bronze blade and walked over to the box set down by the invisible girl.

" _Theoretically… This should work._ " The stealthy girl thought to herself as she watched the other gijinka open the lid.

"Compact, high-concentration, small radius explosives… About enough to take out half of a large crowd?" The Pokémon asked herself. "This will come in handy…"

With a smile on her face, the girl hiding in the shadows silently left and entered a 12-story apartment complex nearby.

* * *

"Let's see… Our destination is five blocks past that intersection over there." The Jolteon gijinka stated and slipped her cellphone back into her jeans' pocket.

The fighting was intense up ahead, but something else made the group halt when they arrived.

In the middle of the intersection was a dragon-like robot standing 5'9 (180cm) knocking away a pair of Resistance gijinkas with a Brutal Swing from its tail.

Heavy, dark yellow armor plating covered the robot save for a few black spots of light metal on the thighs and the upper midsection of the synth. On the robot's mouth were a pair of scythes, looking like they could be the fine blades of an axe. Razor-sharp claws protruded from the hands and feet, coated in a little blood.

The robotic Haxorus (mostly a feral, but has some gijinka elements) roared and fired a Dragon Rage into one of the streets, causing an explosion in the distance.

"First Boss Battle, here we go…" The Braixen said. She and her team got into position and took their battle stances.

 **(Boss – Haxorus Robot)**

"Oscar, you're up!" The Decidueye exclaimed as he pulled on his hoodie string and slung back an arrow, using his apparel as a bow.

The Floatzel, Oscar, charged forward with his spear cloaked in water energy. The Liquidation collided with a Brutal Swing from the Haxorus, giving the Dragon-type the opportunity to parry the Sea Weasel gijinka's move and send him back a couple of meters.

The Axe Jaw robot was hit by a barrage of arrows and energy orbs, followed by a small light blue gem that encased the robot in a Powder Snow attack.

With a mighty roar, the dragon began charging the firefox who threw the Ice gem.

"Samantha, dodge right!" The Jolteon yelled. Samantha, the Braixen dodged to her right and evaded a Slash from the boss dragon.

Following that was a Thunderbolt right at the Haxorus' back. The robotic dragon screeched and opened its mouth to let loose a Dragon Rage at the Jolteon, giving Oscar the opportunity to land a Double Hit on the opponent.

That didn't stop the Dragon-type move from firing. Thankfully, the Electric-type's speed allowed her to dodge the move with ease.

The owl archer shot a Razor Leaf attack at the opponent, but didn't deal much damage. The dragon roared as it charged him this time with a Dragon Rage in its mouth.

"Nathan, look out!" The Floatzel exclaimed. The Decidueye, Nathan, sidestepped right as the Haxorus got up close. This caused the Dragon Rage attack to be wasted on the road.

Nathan hopped onto the Haxorus' back and glanced at his teammates.

"Get ready!" The archer exclaimed.

The Dragon-type roared and performed a Brutal Swing to shake off the Decidueye. However, he refused to let go, leading the robot to charge straight for a nearby building.

"Now!" Nathan yelled as he jumped off and drew an arrow wrapped in ghostly energy.

The Jolteon and Braixen both shot a Shadow Ball and a Psybeam, respectively, which bombarded the Haxorus as it rammed into the building at full force.

The Decidueye shot a Spirit Shackle arrow from his hoodie and onto the beast, trapping it in place.

"My turn, eh?" Oscar commented as he charged in with another Liquidation in his lance.

The move connected, dealing modest damage to the Boss. Right then, the Floatzel managed to block a Slash from the Haxorus, now freed from the momentary Spirit Shackle.

"Burn!" The Fire Fox yelled as she shot a Flamethrower at the Haxorus just as Oscar leapt away.

The Haxorus roared and swept away the flames with a Brutal Swing before shooting a quick Shock Wave at the Floatzel before anyone could react.

"Argh!"

"Oscar, catch!" The Fire-type yelled and threw a small bottle containing a deep blue liquid.

The Floatzel caught the item and drank from it with the cover of the Jolteon and Nathan.

"Thanks, Samantha." Oscar said as he prepared a Water Pulse and threw it at the boss.

"No biggie." The Firefox stated. "Taryn, watch out for those Shock Waves. Oscar and our stock of Potions will be in serious trouble if you don't."

"I hear ya!" The Jolteon, Taryn, responded before cutting at the Haxorus robot with her clawed knuckles.

Before the opponent could Slash at her, she ducked down and released a Shadow Ball before backing away, allowing Nathan to get a few arrows into the target's unprotected parts.

"STATUS REPORT… HEALTH REMAINING: 76%. STATUS CONDITION… NONE DETECTED." A mechanical voice stated from inside the Haxorus.

"These guys are tougher than the others say." The Braixen remarked.

"We keep fighting!" Nathan yelled as he fired another Spirit Shackle into the robot, trapping it in place.

The Haxorus roared once more and charged its fists with electricity. It glared down its potential targets and locked on to Oscar. With a roar, the Dragon-type fired off a quick jolt of electricity at the Water-type.

"Oh, no you don't!" The Jolteon replied as she sped at lightning speed, courtesy of Agility, in front of the Floatzel. The Electric-type's Volt Absorb allowed her to take the Shock Wave without feeling a thing.

"Burn…" Samantha's quietly chanted before shooting a charged Flamethrower at the robotic gijinka. The dragon let out a roar of fury and fired off a short barrage of small Dragon Rage moves.

The Fire-type did her best to avoid each hit, but was singed by one of them.

"Samantha!" The owl archer exclaimed.

"It's just a scratch… But darn, that move's effects sure do go overboard." The Braixen commented before shooting a Shock Wave at the Haxorus to distract it.

"Taryn!" Oscar called out. The Jolteon looked his way and nodded.

The duo then charged forward. Oscar slammed a Liquidation into the Haxorus with his lance right as Samantha's Shock Wave stopped.

"GRROOOO!"

The Sea Weasel gijinka quickly blocked a Slash from the Dragon-type before parrying the blow and backing off. Taryn the Jolteon took the opportunity and aimed a Thunderbolt right where her Floatzel friend's Liquidation struck.

"Look out!" Nathan exclaimed as he jumped high into the air to evade a missile coming the team's way.

"Oh, crap-"

The yellow and orange gijinkas of Electric-typing and Water-typing were unharmed thanks to a Protect thrown up by a small white gem from Samantha's bag.

"You two alright?" Samantha questioned as the shield dissipated into thin air.

"Yeah, thanks to you." The Electric-type responded.

"You're going down!" A Magcargo yelled as he reloaded his RPG. Accompanying him was a Klefki gijinka.

"You guys deal with the Haxorus! I'll handle these guys." Samantha ordered as she shot a Psybeam at the opponents.

"You heard her." Nathan added as he shot a few Razor Leaves at the boss Pokémon, taking its attention.

The Dragon-type fired off another Shock Wave in the Decidueye's direction, managing to land the move onto the Grass-type. However, Nathan shook the attack off with little damage and smirked.

Taryn swung a couple of strikes with her claws before backing off with Agility.

"Oscar, here he comes!" The Jolteon exclaimed.

"On it!"

The Sea Weasel Pokémon sent a charged strike right on time to block the Haxorus' Brutal Swing.

"Damn, this guy is tough. I like it." The Water-type remarked as he kept up the pressure.

Finally, the Haxorus parried the attack and shot a Dragon Rage towards Taryn.

The move struck her due to the robot leading its target, knocking the Electric-type down.

"Taryn, you alright over there!?" Oscar queried before he backed off and hurled a large boulder at the robot boss.

"Yeah, still good to go."

Meanwhile, the Rock Tomb was cut in two by a powerful Slash attack. This gave Nathan an opening to shoot a couple of arrows into the torso and thighs.

A roar came from the dragon and once more, he began charging he Resistance. This time, he was aimed at the Decidueye shooting arrows relentlessly at him.

"No you don't!"

Shadow Ball and Water Pulse slowed down the Boss' movement, giving the owl archer enough time to leap away and counter with a Razor Leaf.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, Samantha was swerving around, attempting to dodge a Rock Slide attack.

She whipped around to shoot a Flamethrower at the Klefki. But the Steel-type smirked as she threw up a Light Screen, effectively reducing the damage dealt to her.

The Magcargo gijinka followed up by shooting another missile the Braixen's way. This time, the projectile's splash damage connected, sending Samantha flying a few meters away.

Refusing to back down, the yellow and orange gijinka stood back on her feet and created a small purple cloud on the tip of her stick where there once was fire.

"I'm not done just yet!"

The Klefki jumped in shock and failed to absorb the hit, causing the Magcargo to cough out magma and blood upon being stricken with Toxic.

"Dammit, I'm going to kill you!" The Steel- and Fairy-type shouted as she pulled out a short sword and rushed Samantha.

* * *

"Aim for the center piece!"

The Floatzel and Jolteon rushed the Haxorus from either side, but the robotic opponent instead took the opportunity to shoot a Shock Wave at Oscar once more.

"Not on my watch!" Taryn yelled as she managed to skip onto the Dragon-type and into the Shock Wave's path, healing her of the Dragon Rage injury from earlier.

"Thanks. Now let's get him!" Oscar's Double Hit connected with the robot's head twice, while Taryn spun around in an attack with her claws before shooting a Shadow Ball into the exposed torso of the Haxorus.

"STATUS REPORT… HEALTH REMAINING: 57%. STATUS CONDITION… NONE. APPLYING AUTO-SUPER POTIONS." The Axe Jaw robot backed off and shot a Dragon Rage, giving its body enough time to repair itself.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Taryn exclaimed.

"We have more trouble coming our way!" Nathan shouted, gaining the attention of his Water-type and Electric-type comrades.

Just as the Magcargo and Klefki fell, a fresh wave of soldiers donning the Periculum emblem approached.

Samantha gulped as she felt no more gems in her bag before shooting a Flamethrower at the wave of Periculum soldiers coming her way from two streets.

The Braixen managed to block a swing from a Marowak's Bone Club using her stick and backed off right as the force of the move sent her back.

"Ack... That was too close!" The Firefox exclaimed.

Arrow after arrow impaled a few soldiers, but that didn't stop them from coming at the team.

"We need to help them!" The Floatzel gijinka exclaimed as he threw a large boulder at them before bounding to the Firefox's aid with Taryn by his side.

"I'll try to keep the Haxorus distracted!" The Arrow Quill gijinka said as he turned, only to be met with a clawed punch from the Haxorus.

"Incoming!" Samantha yelled.

A few small missiles caused numerous explosions that sent the team flying…

Right into a Brutal Swing.

A rain of small bullets pelted the group, followed by a Dragon Rage from the Haxorus.

"Agh!"

"We need some backup over here!" Nathan yelled. However, as the team looked around, more Periculum soldiers were coming from every street and alleyway.

"Where the hell are the others!?" Taryn exclaimed.

"We're freaking pinned down here!" The four stood on their feet and put their backs to one another's.

"Nowhere to run, scum." A Barbaracle gijinka said as he and the rest of the soldiers began surrounding them.

"You two, Helping Hand the big guy. One upgraded Dragon Rage should kill 'em." A Nidorina gijinka commanded.

The Haxorus began charging a massive Dragon Rage, fueled by a Lillipup's and a Linoone's Helping Hand moves. The team all prepared themselves for the worst, as any fast movements would result in their early deaths.

* * *

A figure walked through a series of alleyways, ignorant of the chaos in the surrounding area.

The sound of multiple explosions caught the gijinka's ear, prompting her to speed up and dash to the end of the alleyway system.

She found herself on a street packed with Periculum soldiers with their backs turned to her.

" _What the…_ "

The white gijinka narrowed her eyes when she saw a robotic Haxorus charging up a Dragon Rage fueled by a pair of Helping Hands. The move was targeted for four Pokémon standing in the center of an intersection, surrounded by a mass of Periculum soldiers.

" _Resistance emblem… Species matches… So this is them._ "

* * *

As the Haxorus was about to fire the move at the weakened Resistance members, the charged up attack exploded. The smoke cleared instantly, revealing that plenty of the armor plating was blasted away by the explosion, and the Linoone and Lillipup were dropped dead.

"What the hell!?" A Graveler yelled.

The Periculum soldiers all around them were blasted away by a series of small, but concentrated explosions. Their knocked out forms littered the streets or were flung into the second floors of the buildings surrounding them.

Still standing was the Haxorus with missing armor, revealing a carbon black body of metal.

"W-What…"

A gijinka stood between the Resistance gijinkas and the synthetic dragon.

A black t-shirt and a mid-sleeved short white jacket dressed the top. White shorts that went above the knees were connected to a pair of white sports shoes by light gray tights(resembling pantyhose). A black scythe-like tail protruded from the Pokémon's lower back.

Up top was white hair save for a black patch where another scythe extended from the gijinka's body. Bangs half-covered the upper right side of the girl's face. To finish her appearance, she wore a necklace with a black pendant, and black fingerless gloves carrying a unique weapon.

The weapon was a broadsword with a bronze blade 40 inches (102cm) long. It had an iron crossguard paired with a rectangular grip colored a very dark green. The pommel was a three-layered pentagon- the first, outer layer was the same dark green as the grip, the second layer was a blue of the same darkness, while the third center layer was red with the same darkness.

"I was wondering what was keeping you..." As she spoke, the Absol gijinka turned to face the four Pokémon with piercing red eyes.

"And who are you?" Samantha queried. In the background, the Haxorus' damaged parts were healing up slowly, but the missing pieces of armor could not be recovered. In its mouth, it was charging a bright blue ball of flame.

"According to a contract... I'm your new ally." The Dark-type said. Without having to turn around to see it, she jumped up to dodge the Dragon Rage attack.

The dragon roared and jumped to Slash at her, but the Absol evaded with a little twirl. With a Night Slash channeled into her sword, she sliced into the boss' midsection. The amount of force that was packed into the attack sent the Dragon-type robot down to the ground, where it landed on its feet.

A Shock Wave was sent from the opponent to the Dark-type, but rather than dodging, she countered the attack with a Shadow Ball, nullifying the attack.

Several Slash attacks from the axe jaws and claws were thrown at the Absol. However, each hit was either evaded with ease, or blocked by the broadsword in her hands.

"Damn… She's good." Oscar mused.

"Yeah… She isn't having any bit of trouble with this guy." Taryn added.

The Disaster Pokémon jumped up to avoid one more Slash and shot a short-lived Ice Beam into the opponent's head. The super-effective move dealt major damage as the dragon robot shivered and twitched before turning around to face its foe.

Rather than one, there were now about a dozen copies of the Absol standing there, all with a Night Slash ready and waiting to sink into the robot's vulnerable metal plates.

"Double Team…" Nathan remarked.

The Axe Jaw robot roared and shot off Dragon Rage and Shock Wave moves at the group.

Immediately after all of them disappeared, a Shadow Ball connected to the Haxorus' back, followed by a quick Night Slash. The dragon spun around in a Brutal Swing, managing to connect its attack.

Only to realize that it was connected to the Absol's broadsword at just the right angle for her to parry the blow.

As the Haxorus staggered back, the Absol opened her mouth to speak, letting one word fall out of her lips.

"Freeze…"

She let loose an Ice Beam right into the exposed sections of the Haxorus' body, causing plenty of steam to emit from the robot.

"STATUS REPORT… HEALTH REMAINING: 42%. STATUS CONDITION… ARMOR BREAK, DEFENSE -2, SPECIAL DEFENSE -2. APPLYING AUTO-POTIONS." A mechanical voice screeched.

The Absol wasn't having it, however.

A Night Slash connected with the robot where the Potions were to affect. This in turn, kept the Haxorus robot from healing up. The Disaster Pokémon gijinka quickly backed away, looking for another point to strike.

"She's fast." Taryn remarked. On her end, the group was beginning to relax their muscles as the Potions from Samantha's bag worked their wonders on the injured team.

"Not just fast, but are you seeing the force in her attacks?" Taryn asked. "I couldn't pull that off since my attacking power isn't like hers."

The Dark-type narrowed her red eyes before vanishing into Double Team. Each clone rushed the dragon at once, prompting the Periculum robot to Slash at them each to counter.

However, every attack only caused the targets to dissipate, leaving the Haxorus robot confused.

Following the gaze of the Resistance team, the robot turned and shot a quick yellow jolt of electricity at the Dark-type.

Shock Wave made a bullseye this time. However, the Dark-type didn't seem to mind being zapped and simply stood there, examining her sword.

"Uh, she isn't doing anything about that…" Samantha commented with disbelief as she watched the Shock Wave get stronger in intensity.

"Hmph…" The Dark-type shook off the move and charged with Night Slash.

The Axe Jaw robot narrowly blocked with a Slash from its tusks, but instantly regretted it once the Absol shot an Ice Beam at point blank range.

"HEALTH REMAINING… 17%. STATUS C-CONDITION… ARMOR BREAK, DEF-DEF-DEFENSE -3, SPEEEECIAL DEFENS-S-SE -3. AUTO-POTI-TION SYSTEMS ARE OFFLI-I-INE. REQUUUEST-TING REPA-A-AIRS."

In response, the Disaster Pokémon leapt up and cut downwards with her sword, slicing off one of the scythes on the target's mouth.

Feedback came in the form of a Dragon Rage that barely nicked the Absol's tail.

"They chose a bad moveset." The Dark-type mused before examining her tail. " _Only 10HP worth of damage… Children can do much more._ "

She then shot forward and swung her blade, only to find it blocked by a punch.

Before a parry came from the Haxorus, the Absol ducked and sliced upwards, opening up the Haxorus' body and causing a few broken wires to fall out.

"No fucking way." Oscar commented.

"She thinks as fast as she moves..." The Decidueye added.

"To pull out her sword from its fists like that so quickly..."

With an Ice Beam, she struck down the Haxorus until its right arm was frozen completely solid.

As steam began to emit from the arm, the Absol took the opportunity to cut it off clean with one critical Night Slash.

"STA-ATUS RE-RE-REPORT… HEALTH-TH REMA-A-AININGGG… 1.4%... STAT-T-TUS CONDITION… ARMO-" The voice cut off, then the dragon fell to its back.

The Absol walked up to the downed robot and stabbed its head with her sword, causing the mechanical alarms to stop.

" _Pathetic, coming from their latest technology._ " The Dark-type thought to herself.

The four Pokémon slowly approached their savior with looks of awe written in their faces.

"Thanks for the save." Samantha bowed down politely and quickly, but gained no response from the white gijinka.

"So, who are you…?" Nathan questioned.

"A hired blade." The girl clad in white replied.

"What do you mean?" The Jolteon asked.

"Duck." The Dark-type stated as she jumped up.

The team instantly ducked once they saw the Focus Blast coming their way.

Samantha retaliated with a Flamethrower, effectively rendering the target defeated. Immediately, a Seviper sprung forth bot was knocked away by a kick from the Absol gijinka.

" _Fall!_ " The Dark-type swung her blade, leaving an unconscious rattlesnake on the ground.

"You're a really good fighter." The Braixen of the party commented as she and her friends approached the broadsword-wielding Absol.

"Hmph… Let's go." The girl turned her gaze to the alleyway she came from and slowly began headed for it, ignorant of the amount of corpses and knocked out soldiers in the area.

"Well, sunshine sure seems like the jolly type."

* * *

Once the group got past the alleys, they found themselves in front of a warehouse. The gates were opened and unmanned, save for a pair of corpses and the leftovers of an apple.

"Looks like someone's been busy." Taryn remarked.

The four Resistance gijinkas followed the Absol into the warehouse's main doors. Crates were stacked on top of one another, while gaps in between had light bulbs placed to illuminate the otherwise dark warehouse.

"So… Who exactly are you?" The orange gijinka asked as they walked towards the other end of the warehouse.

The Absol gave them a glance to show acknowledgement, but that was it. Not a word said, no proper response, just kept walking down the narrow path to the other side.

"Uh…"

"Well… An ally is an ally, I guess." Nathan commented.

The team reached an elevator door. Samantha pushed a button on the wall, opening the doors. However, there was no elevator inside- just a rope and a long fall.

"Great." The Jolteon stated. "Samantha, you got any gems for this?"

"No, I used them all up earlier in that boss battle." The Fire-type replied.

"Hmph…" The Dark-type jumped in, to their surprise, and rappelled down.

"Well… I guess it isn't so bad to have my hands burned off." Oscar said.

"I suppose we've no other choice…" The owl archer stated.

"Umm, you guys go first." The Electric-type gijinka suggested. "Iiii don't think I want my claws tearing that thing up on the way down.

"So if you fall, who's catching you?" The Floatzel gijinka queried. The other three stared at him and slowly developed shit-eating grins on their faces. "…Why are you all looking at me?"

* * *

"AWAWAWAWAWAAA-"

"SHIT!"

With an audible thud, the Jolteon landed just fine…

...On the back of a Floatzel lancer seeing stars.

The group, after a few minutes of laughter, exited the doors to find that the Absol had already eliminated the first wave of Periculum guards in the basement.

"Freeze…!"

With a charged Ice Beam, the Dark-type froze small group of soldiers about to strike her down.

"She got really impatient." Samantha explained.

With a swing of her sword, the Absol blocked a potential blow from a great sword and parried the hit, sending the target down to the ground.

A Shadow Ball finished him off, leaving the guard unconscious.

The Disaster Pokémon gijinka turned to face her allies before continuing forwards.

"Hey, wait up!" Oscar called out as he and his friends approached the Absol.

The Disaster Pokémon spared them only another glance. She didn't stop to wait, nor did she stop to give them attention.

"My only focuses will be the five missions we will spend together. Let's get this over with." The Dark-type said.

"You could at least stick with us, you know." Taryn said.

"I think she made it obvious enough that she doesn't exactly need our help." The Decidueye replied.

"Bingo." The Dark-type replied. "I'm here to do the opposite- assist you and keep you alive."

"Can't exactly say you haven't been helping us…" Samantha looked to the defeated Periculum soldiers littered about the place.

A distant explosion noise indicated that one of the teams had completed their mission.

"Sounds like one's already down."

"So, if you're going to be sticking around, what are we supposed to call you?" The Water-type queried.

"…Should that really matter?" The Absol asked back.

"Well, yeah. We can't really call you whatever."

"…Fine." The white gijinka replied. "My name is Angel."

"Angel, huh?" The owl archer said.

"Kind of an interesting name for someone with power like yours." The Jolteon commented.

The team walked through a long hallway filled with smaller generators, computers, break stations, pipes, and the like.

"Up ahead." Angel stated as she pointed to a terminal on the largest generator that was built into the wall, ceiling, and even the floor.

"Alright Taryn, we'll keep you covered." Nathan said as the first four gijinkas walked forward. Angel, however, remained rooted to her spot.

"…We're not alone." Angel said. The other four turned around to face her.

A crashing noise came from behind them where the Absol was looking, and the group slowly turned around to see a Machamp accompanied by two Magneton.

The Fighting-type roared and cracked knuckles on four hands. The two Magneton both let electricity zap through their bodes before looking to the Resistance Pokémon standing before them.

"Why do they need so much security when they know we can bust through it?" Taryn queried. The team took battle stances, while Angel drew her sword from its sheath, letting the bronze blade shine in the light.

 **(Boss – Machamp)**

The Magneton fired off a barrage of Thundershock attacks at the party. Taryn leapt forward to absorb most of them while the others spread out.

"Samantha!" Nathan called. The Braixen glanced at him and twirled in the air with a flame on her stick. "Let's show them what we've got!"

"Gotcha." The Braixen shot small flames at the tips of the arrows in the Decidueye's hand. With mindfulness, the Grass-type shot all of them at once.

The Magneton trembled as the burning projectiles struck them. One of them looked up through the rain of fire to see a spear coming right for his face.

"I think a little water would be helpful." Oscar's Liquidation struck down the Electric- and Steel-type, sending it to the ground.

The other Magneton fired up a Protect around itself, covering it from a few fast swipes from Taryn.

Meanwhile, behind the Magneton battle, Angel and the Machamp exchanged blows from blade to overly muscular arms.

"Heh, I'm liking this." The Fighting-type said in between thrusts from Force Palms and blocking hits from Angel's broadsword.

The Absol didn't reply to the question and backed away to shoot a quick Shadow Ball at her opponent.

The Superpower Pokémon remained unfazed by the move and charged the Dark-type with two fists of fire and two of lightning.

"Look out!" Taryn yelled.

Oscar managed to dodge a Thundershock before sending back a Water Pulse to counter.

The Magneton dodged the move with ease.

Samantha's Flamethrower nearly connected with the other Magneton, keeping it occupied. Nathan, on the other hand, stood examining the battle with glowing white eyes.

"Any strats yet, Nathan?" Taryn questioned as she swiped at the other Steel-type with her claws.

"Working on it." The Decidueye replied. "Just keep me covered."

Angel applied pressure to her Night Slash against all four arms of the Machamp.

"Hoooo, you're a lot tougher than you look!" The Fighting-type commented. "Unless it's that special little sword you have?"

The Dark-type narrowed her eyes and instantly parried, forcing the Superpower gijinka back.

"Well, it looks like if I don't help out my cohorts, your friends over there will get rid of them and then help you out, no?"

"Hmph… They aren't my friends."

"Fine, make it a metaphor." The Machamp replied. He then pulled out a large chunk of steel from the floor and threw it at the Disaster Pokémon.

Angel concentrated and sent a well-timed Night Slash into the projectile with her sword to cut it in two, leaving her unscathed.

However, when she looked, the Machamp was about to give Nathan four Fire Punches.

" _Dammit._ "

"Nathan, run for it!" Samantha exclaimed, stopping her Flamethrower barrage to look at her ally.

This resulted in the Magneton getting in a Thundershock on the Braixen.

"Crap." The Arrow Quill Pokémon stepped back and dodged the first hit, ducked to avoid the second, swerved to his left to evade the third, then jumped to keep away the fourth.

"Oh no you don't!" Taryn exclaimed as she threw a Stored Power attack at the Machamp.

The Boss barely registered the attack and wiped off his back with his lower right arm.

"You really think a weak super-effective move like that can hurt me?"

"Darn… _I'll need an Agility boost for this one!_ " The Jolteon gijinka sped up with the move in mind, allowing her to dodge a purple cloud of poison thrown by one of the Magneton.

"You really think you can get away with that?"

"Fall!" The Firefox shot a Psybeam into the Boss' chest, causing him to take one step back.

Three Water Pulses struck the Machamp directly, followed by a couple of arrows.

In the background, Angel kept the two Magneton busy, slowed only by their use of Protect.

"Four against one!" The Braixen exclaimed.

"You can't defeat all of us at once." The owl archer added.

"You think?" The Machamp mumbled. He then stomped down on the ground harshly, causing a tremor that struck all the Pokémon in the room.

The two Electric- and Steel-types instantly threw up their Protect in response.

Angel sensed the attack and managed to leap out of the way, giving her a clear view of the situation.

In between the point she stood a few minutes ago and the large generator, the Machamp stood with two arms crossed and a smug grin as the effects of Earthquake racked her allies with pain.

Nathan barely held his ground, even with his typing, Oscar dropped down in agony, but the two with lesser average defenses _and_ a type-weakness were knocked half-dead onto the ground.

" _This will be challenging._ " The Dark-type thought to herself. She looked behind her to see a barrage of Magnet Bombs coming for her- and plenty of them too.

The white gijinka slashed once, twice, then thrice, knocking out all the projectiles from the air.

She landed gracefully on the ground. A great deal of small explosions rang out behind her in a horizontal pattern, ignored by the Dark-type now glaring down the Machamp.

" _I'll need them alive to get my pay…_ " Angel thought to herself as she started Double Team, creating at least twenty copies of herself and surrounding the battlefield with them.

"Dammit!" Oscar exclaimed as he used his spear to help himself back up. "That's not going to be any fun to fight against!"

"I knew I should have invested in Defense training…" The Grass-type added. "A Haze won't work either- he'll only do the same thing!"

The Boss laughed at the duo's conversation.

"Now do you see the hopelessness of your situation?"

In the next instant, the Machamp roared in agony as a swing from Angel's sword drew blood from two of his arms, plus his upper left shoulder.

He instantly got back into the same blocking maneuvers he did to keep the Absol's strikes from hitting him earlier.

"Do something to help out the other two… Because he won't be busied with me forever." The Dark-type ordered the Floatzel and Decidueye.

"Well, you heard her…" Oscar mumbled as he stood up properly.

"Samantha's bag might still have a couple of Potions we can use." The gijinka in the brown hoodie suggested.

The smoke from the explosion mass cleared, revealing a pair of Magneton protecting one another with a Protect that finally died out.

The duo shot Thundershocks at the broadsword wielder, managing to land a few hits onto the Dark-type fighting the Machamp boss.

She didn't seem to mind, but the signs of damage were present on her body and clothing.

"You're smart, aren't you?" The Machamp asked as he blocked two strikes and lashed out with a Force Palm.

Angel parried the blow and kept up the aggression.

"The moment I use Earthquake, you'll be able to do enough damage to defeat me. But if I don't take out those two now, that Jolteon there can rack up enough speed boosts to K.O. me with Stored Power."

"You aren't as dumb as you are strong." Angel remarked blankly and continued to swing her blade forward.

"Well, the damage from those Magneton will get to you… Maybe, they'll even throw a Toxic at you or paralyze you with all those Thundershocks!" The Machamp laughed and threw three Force Palms, forcing Angel back.

His free arm blocked the bronze blade once more, then charged up a Thunderpunch to send back the fire.

"Ugh… My head hurts…" Samantha groaned as she groggily stood to her feet, aided by Nathan. Taryn was doing the same thing, aided by Oscar.

"That Earthquake really packed a punch…" The Jolteon gijinka added.

"Well, he's a Machamp, the move was super-effective and powerful by default, and the two of you don't exactly have the Defense stat prominent in your species." Nathan said.

"But we're not letting that stop us, right?" Oscar asked almost hopelessly, paired with a nervous grin.

"Hell no. Challenges like that won't bring us down so easily." The Electric-type remarked.

"Yeah. We wouldn't be part of the Resistance if we backed down from an impossible situation!" The Braixen gijinka added.

"Then let's get them."

Angel angled her sword in a way that blocked a Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Force Palm, and an ordinary strike.

She then retaliated with a Night Slash, adding to the damage the Machamp's arms were taking.

"Hmph… Your efforts are futile." Angel mused.

"So are yours, _Angel_."

At that moment, the Absol's eyes widened for just a split second, allowing the Machamp to land a Force Palm.

"Guh!"

The Dark-type was sent back by the super-effective attack before being bombarded with Magnet Bombs and Thundershocks from the two assisting the Machamp.

"I'm one of the luckier ones… To have the knowledge that not everyone gets to have." The Fighting-type remarked. "And with your head, I'll be promoted so far up, that I'll get two, no, four portions of Driasia at my feet!"

"Not on my watch!"

The Machamp turned only to find a large orb of energy coming at him, strengthened by stat boosts.

Before the Magneton could react, they were blasted down by a Water Pulse to one and a Flamethrower to the other.

"Haze."

Nathan leapt into the fray, creating a thick black smokescreen, blinding everyone but himself.

The archer ran over to the broadsword wielder and gave her a Potion.

"Back on your feet." The Grass-type stated.

"Hmph." Angel stood up as told, but refused the bottle. "It's a minor injury. I don't need a Potion for something as trivial as one strike."

"Suit yourself, then." The Decidueye gijinka then shot a Spirit Shackle through the fog, then another. The sound of metal hitting the floor indicated that the two Magneton were down.

"Ready up, because here it comes!" Oscar's voice yelled throughout the fog.

The duo in the haze took the hint and jumped up to avoid a powerful shockwave that shook the very ground and even the entire space around them.

A pair of pained screams rose through the fog. The voices belong not to the Resistance, but…

"Hm…" The Machamp mused as he put a hand to his chin.

…The screams belonged to the two Magneton trapped on the ground by Spirit Shackle.

Right as the haze cleared, the ghostly trapping energy went away, revealing Oscar, Samantha, and Taryn all intact from the Earthquake.

"So it looks like you've caught me here." The Fighting-type boss mumbled. "Well then…"

The Machamp whipped out a small orange orb containing a bright flame inside. He then crushed the orb with all his strength, lighting him on fire.

"Uh-oh…" Taryn backed off and stepped the edge of her foot onto the ground in preparation for Agility.

"Why, what is it?" The Braixen Samantha queried.

"Guts… It's an ability that doubles your physical attacking power, and even ignores a Burn's halving effects…" The Electric-type explained.

"So… In other words…" Nathan mumbled.

"We're completely _fucked_ if we get hit by anything." The Sea Weasel lancer finished.

" _I've seen worse._ " Angel thought to herself.

"Now, let's rock the world a little!" The Machamp jumped up. His landing created a massive shockwave that tore apart everything within intended range.

"That's some serious Attack." Oscar remarked as he jumped over the slow-moving wave.

"Slow, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be wary." The Decidueye stated before firing a couple of arrows at the target.

"Now that there's only one of him, I think you can do your thingy now." The Jolteon gijinka said as she used Agility to deftly stay out of range of the Machamp's fists, but still get close enough to keep him distracted.

"Oscar, give Nathan a boost!" Samantha exclaimed. "This guy isn't going to be hitting the generator when his objective is to defend it."

"I heard ya!" The Water-type replied and crouched down with his back turned to the Decidueye. His spear was pointed upwards, towards the massive generator that was their objective- specifically, at a railing up high near the ceiling.

"Here goes…!" The Grass-type archer ran straight for his friend and used his back and spear as leverage to take off.

"Hah!"

Absol and Jolteon gijinkas continued to throw swipes, slashes, and short strikes as much as they could at the burning opponent. Thanks to Agility, the yellow gijinka could move in the way of a Thunderpunch then back out before a Fire Punch or Force Palm could hit.

As for the Disaster Pokémon, she blocked the Fire Punches and remained cautious of the Force Palms.

"Now I'm on FIRE!" The Machamp yelled as he pummeled the area around him with a hundred Fire Punches.

"Watch out!" The yellow gijinka exclaimed.

She and the Absol both backed away before it could hit. The duo shot a Shadow Ball each at the Machamp, dealing a little extra damage to the target.

With a mighty stomp, the Machamp sent an Earthquake. And rather than stopping at one, he stomped three more times, sending the team a total of four Earthquake waves.

"Okay, just like the final boss in SMG… I got this!" Taryn said to herself as the waves approached.

"Jump!" The Fire-type gijinka ordered as she herself jumped to evade one, then two, then three, then four.

Her allies followed suit, and quickly regained their footing.

The Machamp boss roared and rushed the Floatzel with multipled Thunderpunches charged in his fists.

"Nathan, any day now!" The Water-type exclaimed as he rolled out of the way and had his Volt Absorbing companion take one Thunderpunch before it snagged him.

"I got it!" The Decidueye exclaimed from above as he aimed a ghostly arrow at the beast.

The move hit home, rooting the Fighting-type boss to the spot.

"Aim for the left shoulders!" The Decidueye commanded as he threw down a barrage of Razor Leaves aimed at the Machamp.

A Psybeam connected with the Machamp's left arms following that. Oscar slashed at the target twice with Double Hit and backed away to avoid a Thunderpunch from his right arm.

"Damn you… Damn all of you to hell!" The Superpower Pokémon roared as he prepared a Force Palm with his right arms.

A Thunderbolt dealt one more blow to the opponent, before finally, a Night Slash critical hit took down the opponent and sent him to the ground.

"Gaargh…" The flames coating the Fighting-type dissipated once he hit the floor. He glared back up at the Resistance team, and to the Decidueye who glided down to the scene from his perch.

"Now… If you don't mind, I've got some electric energy to steal." The Jolteon stated as she walked over to the large generator.

"You… It's only natural that you'd end up with the Resistance, girl…" The Superpower Pokémon's attention was focused on the Absol standing there.

"Hmph…"

"Wha- Do you guys know each other or something?" Samantha asked.

The Machamp coughed out blood and gave a smug grin before falling asleep.

"…No." Angel replied. "Spouting nonsense is all he was doing."

"I'll take your word for it." Nathan said.

Meanwhile, Taryn crouched down to open a zipper on her shoe and pull out a small data chip from it. The yellow gijinka plugged in said chip into a slot on the terminal on the generator, powering it up and getting the characters for the password.

"So, mind explaining what the deal is with you and us?" Oscar quizzed.

"Hm… We'll be going to the encampment once we're done here. You can ask your leaders those questions." The Absol responded dully.

"Geez, alright."

"Done!" The Lightning Pokémon stated as she slipped the chip back into her shoe pocket and zipped it closed. "Let's get out of here. This thing is draining pretty quickly, so we've got about seven minutes before we get caught in an explosion."

"You heard her. Let's go!" Nathan commanded as he bounded for the elevator. His team followed suit.

"Uh, how are we getting back up again?" Oscar asked. "I don't think there are stairs anywhere around here."

"Hmph… You, Jolteon, can you do something about the elevator?"

"The name's Taryn Bailey, thank you very much." The Jolteon replied smugly. Her expression hardened when she thought about their escape. "I dunno… I'm pretty sure I can fix it up in a couple of minutes."

* * *

The five Pokémon gijinkas were now running as fast as they could together on the main street, leaving behind the warehouse and a mob of Periculum soldiers coming for them.

"Four… Three… Two… One…" The yellow gijinka mused as she looked at her phone in the midst of running.

At that moment, the warehouse the team just left turned into a large explosion, eliminating all the soldiers chasing after them.

"Whew. Looks like we barely made it." The Sea Weasel Pokémon said.

"Barely." The Braixen added.

"Ahh, I'm starved." Taryn stated. "Think anything good's cooking over there?"

"If I'm not mistaken, they should have fried chicken, ham sandwiches, and vegetable dish."

"Definitely beats an empty stomach." The Fire-type Samantha responded.

Meanwhile, on the edge of a rooftop on a building adjacent to the team, a silhouette sat down watching their run towards the city outskirts. The figure ignored the plenty of fighting in the surrounding city, the fires spreading from the explosion, and the occasional missile flying nearby towards the sky where planes and bird Pokémon fought.

" _First mission complete._ " The silhouette thought. As the moonlight began to move towards her, a dull blue color revealed itself along with long hair, highlighted a dim red by the flames in the background.

The silhouette giggled in a girl's voice and looked ahead of the Resistance team below.

" _And so it begins._ "

* * *

 **Spirit Shackle:** In-game, prevents the target from switching. In this case, it traps targets in a certain field, or roots them to a spot depending on how much and what type of energy is sent to the projectile.

For example, the first few times Nathan uses Spirit Shackle is to root the Haxorus in place for just a few seconds. The amount of energy he channels into the attack decides how long the target remains rooted to the spot, and how much they're rooted to the spot. (Eg they can't move their legs whatsoever; or they can move one leg as long as the other remains stuck, then the moving leg is "pulled" to its prior position by Spirit Shackle)

Meanwhile, they can also choose for the arrow to keep a target trapped within a radius of the user's choosing. For example, I shoot a Spirit Shackle at a target. I intend for him to stay stuck within a 20m radius.

 **Oscar's Liquidation:** I know Floatzel can't learn that move- but the idea was too good to pass up. Otherwise, he'd be using Waterfall, and I figured Liquidation's effects suited him more- 20% chance to cut down Defense rather than a 20% flinch chance. And besides, Waterfall is like a charging attack- Liquidation is much more versatile for writing.

 **Bullets and Projectiles from real life** : They work like Pokémon moves, except when they don't. What I mean here is that under the right conditions, guns (all weapons in this case, including swords, arrows, etc) will function as they do in real life. However, for the most part, they are more like moves:

An SMG would function similar to moves like Fury Swipes, Spike Cannon, and the like.

9mm rounds would probably have about 30 power, 5.56mm rounds would probably be 55~70, 7.62 would be 85-ish power, and .308 rounds like on sniper rifles could have 100 and above power.

The legendary .50CAL rounds too, have a known power here- this is normally around 130. And if we put on some explosive rounds on one of those rifles…

…Let's just say we won't need Z-moves anymore.

Fortunately enough, those very high-powered rifles are _expensive_ and freaking rare around Driasia. But since they're so badass, I'll have them appear once in a while. If you've read a later chapter, you might know what I'm talking about.

As for missiles and grenades:

An M2 Frag Grenade could have an average power of 85, with decreasing power in the splash damage the further away the target is from the initial blast.

Missiles depend varying on their composition and size. I can't say I know what exactly they are in real life, but I'll give them a power rating of 95~160, depending on what we're talking about.

 **Elemental Gems** – are as seen in the game they debuted in, _Pokémon Black_ and _Pokémon White_. The twist here is that there are different levels, or sizes, for each elemental gem, which can have a different move stored up in it. Smaller gems may contain basic offensive moves such as Powder Snow, Ember, Thundershock, Water Gun, Gust, Leafage, and the like. These low-tier gems are usually about 3~6cm in width.

Other medium-sized gems are the most varying and may contain either a status move or a mid-tier move. Sizes range from 8~15cm. Examples are below, along with the average size for each move.

Psychic: Psybeam(11cm), Reflect(3 minutes, 9.4cm), Agility(14cm)

Electric: Shock Wave(10.8cm), Thunder Wave (Small radius, 8cm; normal radius, 12cm), Thunderpunch(15cm)

Water: Water Pulse(11.4cm), Octazooka(12cm), Aqua Ring(4mins, 10.9cm)

Ghost: Shadow Claw(14.7cm), Ominous Wind (12cm), Confuse Ray (10.4cm)

The lengths given above are only averages- for example, a Shock Wave gem at 10.4cm would be weaker than one at 11.2cm.

For larger sized gems, they contain moves with a power of 80 and up, as well as higher-tier status moves, or status moves with more potency than their medium sized counterparts. These gems range from 16cm~22cm. Examples are:

Psychic: Reflect(10minutes, 18cm), Teleport(1km distance, 20cm), Extrasensory(16.5cm)

Ghost: Phantom Force(Gives user ghost-attributes of walking through walls, etc. for 2mins: 19.8cm; for 4 mins, 22cm), Destiny Bond (VERY rare, 21cm. 22cm allows one to take down the attacker and one other Pokémon in the area of choice.)

Water: Scald(17.2cm), Rain Dance(3mins, 18cm), Crabhammer(19.5cm)

Electric: Thunderbolt(19cm), Zing Zap(16.9cm), Zap Cannon(22cm)

As for special moves such as Psystrike, Sacred Fire, Dragon Ascent, Shadow Force, Glaciate, Oblivion Wing, and Sunsteel Strike, the easiest way to obtain those particular gems are to directly meet the legendary who can use said move.

Otherwise, these gems can also be obtained by going into special dungeons or meeting requirements to create one.

These gems are sized depending on their effects, and don't follow the usual rule: For example, Sacred Fire averages to about 12cm, but to differentiate it, fire streams around the gem, but won't really harm anyone holding it. Geomancy could be 15cm with a fairy aura surrounding it, Shadow Force may contain a ghostly aura about it, while giving the holder a feeling that "isn't right," and so on.

So that concludes Chapter 1's re-write. I know I said I would see you all in Chapter Three, and that the rest of the notes would be in Chapter Two, but I figured I would upload this right now. Tell me what you think, I guess.


	2. C2 - Recompense

Shadows in War, Segment 1, Chapter 2 – Recompense

* * *

 _As of 9/15/2017:_

 _So with the outcome of the previous chapter's rewrite, this one will be changed a lot, but the main points aren't. Just a few minor tweaks to what happens._

 _Well, I guess it IS a little minor._

 _Anywho, this rewrite will take a while. I might make a quick Chapter Sixteen if I'm asked to. I was kinda thinking of multitasking that along with this, since this one took quite a long damn time to write._

 _An updated height listing for the characters seen so far will be below. For the characters who appear in later chapters, their heights will also be given at the bottom, even if I list them during their intros._

* * *

An explosion sounded in the distance, indicating another generator leeched and destroyed.

Oscar yawned as he walked out of a medical tent. He was in an encampment filled with medics and other Resistance Pokémon at the ready, all standing guard, relaxing, checking the mission status, and moving things around among other things.

On a scaffolding tower overlooking the rest of the city, a certain Absol gijinka stood. She watched the fires spread throughout the city and attacks of all forms sounding off.

"Doesn't look like I've been out for long." The Floatzel mused.

"Yeah, you've only been asleep for around fifty minutes."

The Sea Weasel turned to face the speaker.

A girl standing 3'7 who seemed to be in her late teens was walking towards the Water-type. Over a black long sleeved cloth, she wore a gray dress that seemed to be made from metal. The dress was cut open on the lower front, displaying a pair of black leggings and metallic boots.

Silvery hair was tied into twin tails by a couple of small bands that seemed to be made from some sort of metal. Her eyes were a reddish tint, with faint black "circles" surrounding the pupils.

"Oh, hey there, Audrey." The Water-type greeted with a light wave.

"'Sup, Oscar." The Durant girl smiled. "You guys did great out there. Now, aside from _her_ , your pals are out in the field, scavenging around the cleared parts of the city with a few others." Audrey explained. "They'll be back in a little while."

"Thanks for the intel." The Floatzel lancer replied. "So… What IS she doing up there?"

"I dunno. But she does look pretty cool though." The Steel- and Bug-type replied.

"Oh yeah, what's the deal with her?" Audrey turned to face Oscar with a puzzled look. "I mean, she said she's our 'new ally' or something, and that you guys hired her."

"Oh, that. It happened right as you guys boarded the plane, so we couldn't tell you. But Tobias and Sebastian back in the Center hired her for a big sum of cash. She'll be with you for five missions, with this being the first." The Durant gijinka explained.

"Okay… Who exactly is she, then?" Oscar queried.

"She already told you her name, right?"

"After we pressured her just a little."

"Geez… I figured." The Durant sighed. "Angel, a top-mercenary known only to higher-classed people in the 'Driasian Underground.' Some of our guys in the South caught wind of her from someone they knew, and they passed the details to us."

"So… Why our team again?" The Floatzel asked.

"Well, that's because you're one of the lesser experienced teams headed straight for one of the generators. Frank thought it was a good idea to place her here."

"Huh… Well, makes sense, since she's so freaking strong." The lancer mumbled.

"She has a one-hundred percent success rate in her papers, Oscar."

"…You are bullshitting me, right? No mercenary, even the best, has that kind of…"

"Nope. I can show you the thing right now."

"Nooooooo." Oscar stated in a gamer-fashion before looking to the girl in question watching the battle. " _No wonder she's unbeatable._ "

The Floatzel was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of metal music playing from the Durant girl's dress.

"Oh, hang on." The girl took a cellphone from her dress' pocket and unfolded it before answering a call. "Hello?"

"Captain, this is Badger reporting here. The General is busy at the moment, and Lady isn't picking up our calls. Are things set up there?"

"Working on it. What's your status?" The Durant questioned.

"Confirm- we've taken down one generator, Captain. Right now, we're back on the front lines, covering the wounded." Badger replied.

"Okie dokies. Get those guys back here alive, got me?" The Bug-type ordered casually.

"Affirmative, Captain. Badger, out." The Durant put down her phone and looked towards the city.

Audrey- or more specifically, Captain Audrey, was one of the leaders of the Resistance. She was one of the youngest Pokémon who fought, and was promoted to her status by the other leaders when they found her prodigious skill in battling and in tactics.

" _The Blade of the Resistance._ " Oscar thought to himself as the Durant Captain stared out into the fires. " _That dress doubles as some really though armor too._ "

"Okay, so you wanted to see Angel's contract?" The Water-type lancer nodded in response.

But a rumbling stomach interrupted the two of them.

"…Maybe we'll get a snack first, if that's OK with you." Audrey stated nervously.

"Eh, I'm hungry too. So let's go."

* * *

"Nothing interesting left around that building." Taryn said.

The Electric-type set down a backpack and unpacked a few items inside.

"And the backpack's a souvenir, huh?" Samantha queried. The Lightning Pokémon nodded in response.

"Well, it's better not to let it go to waste." Nathan remarked.

The trio examined the items before deciding to bring everything to the camp.

Behind a wall inside one of the buildings, a shadow watched them from her cover.

" _Hm… Here._ "

The trio began their trek back to the encampment, half-focused on their surroundings as they chatted idly.

"Wait." Nathan suddenly stated, cutting off the two girls with him.

"What's up…?" The yellow Eeveelution asked.

"…Someone's here."

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of an adjacent building, the silhouette smiled.

" _His detection skill is getting better. I won't need to hold back anymore soon._ "

The shadow walked casually over to a computer and switched it on, but not before plugging it into a small speaker next to the table.

The light emitting out of the computer forced the silhouette to look away for a moment to let her eyes adjust.

One story below, the main cast all stared into the window emitting a rather large amount of light.

"I don't think they know we're here." The Braixen gijinka whispered.

"Let's keep it that way. Follow me." The owl archer quietly said as he bent down slightly before taking slow, steady steps to the entrance.

"I… Ugh, fine."

* * *

 _*NOM~*_

Audrey happily dug into a slice of apple pie. Oscar did the same, seeming quite contented with the delicacy.

"How do we have something like this here again?" The Floatzel lancer asked. "I was thinking of things that are really fast to cook like fish and chicken nuggets."

"Go credit the chef. He decided to join us here." The Durant girl replied happily as she took another bite. "Yumm~"

"I guess that's because three of our fearless leaders are here." The Water-type said with a mock-amused tone, causing Audrey to giggle.

"Hm, when you put it that way, I kinda wonder why so many of us are here. This op isn't exactly a good reason for more than one of us to be here for a plan." The Steel- and Bug-type stated.

"Yeah. What DID make all of you come again?" The Sea Weasel Pokémon queried.

Audrey pondered for a moment, her antennae twitching ever so slightly as she processed the reasons.

"I guess… I don't really know. Everyone just said I should tag along with Ethan and Claire here."

"Hm."

"We're back." The Floatzel and Durant turned to the source of the voice to find an owl archer accompanied by a Braixen and a Jolteon gijinka.

"Awake now, sleepyhead?" Taryn asked the lancer mockingly.

"Screw off."

"So, did'ja find anything interesting?" Audrey quizzed.

"Well… Sort of." Samantha replied.

"Someone left their hard drive behind in a small office building." The Grass-type Nathan began. "Whoever was there managed to escape, but what we found on the hard drive may be some of Periculum's files."

"Say what now?" Audrey asked. "Hold on, I need pie."

The Captain of the Resistance stuffed another bite into her mouth, motioning for the other three to take a seat each around the table they occupied.

"Plenty of files with Periculum labels, names, maps, dates, and plans were there." Samantha followed. "We only glimpsed at it for a little bit before taking it with us."

"What would a Periculum guy be doing there, with something sensitive like that?" The metal-dressed girl mumbled.

"They weren't with Periculum, I think." The Electric-type gijinka said.

"What makes you say that?" Nathan queried.

"Whoever that was wasn't in anything that indicated their faction." The Jolteon explained. "And they didn't seem to want to fight us. I'd guess they're a freelance black hat who isn't exactly our friend or enemy."

"Still can't rule out that they were with Periculum, though." The Firefox stated.

"In any case, I think I wanna see it." Audrey said as she put down her spoon on a clean plate.

"…Can we have some of that first?"

* * *

The cover of the tent made the space slightly darker, pronouncing the light emitted by the computer. The Resistance team and leader plus mercenary all watched their Jolteon hacker get into the files.

"This is weird." Taryn stated.

"What is?" Samantha asked.

"This thing isn't guarded at all and it doesn't have any kind of viruses." The Jolteon gijinka stated. "Didn't need to break anything open, it's all just there."

"Well, of course it would be open since that's how we found it." Nathan said.

"No, this means that whoever this is is inexperienced enough to pull off dumb things like this. I kinda doubt Periculum would leave their people untrained like that."

"Makes sense." Oscar commented.

"So, open it." Audrey said.

"Whoa… That is a lot of data." The Floatzel remarked.

"Let's check out that Introduction file first." Samantha said as she pointed to a document at the very top of the list.

"Check out the header." Everyone glanced at the top of the window of the newly opened document. It read: " _Project S._ "

"Taryn… Would you give the honor?" Audrey asked.

The Electric-type cleared her throat and nodded in response.

"For years, Pokémon have been hindered in battle by the limitations of pain, of emotions, of fatigue, of reasoning, feelings. No one, not even the Legendary Pokémon themselves, is free of these encumbrances." Taryn stopped right there and sighed. "I hate how these idiots talk. They think they're so important."

"Yeah… Even I'm having trouble wrapping my head around why they need to talk like that." The Durant Captain added.

"Formality is something to be practiced at least a little…" Nathan started.

"…But to use it for everything is just stupid." The Braixen crossed her arms.

"And this kids, is the foundation of the Resistance." Oscar stated satirically, earning a laugh from the group (save for the Absol).

"Ahem. Anyway…" The Jolteon gijinka gained back everyone's attention. "What if there was a way to… Eliminate these obstacles? Project S aims to do just that."

"After much research, we have found exactly what we're looking for. Old records from a time long forgotten depict Pokémon free of the restrictions of their feelings and their physical conditions. The records show that they knew only two things- to obey, and to fight."

"We refer to these as _Shadow Pokémon_. These Pokémon have the doors to their hearts and minds shut tightly. They are nothing more than mindless killing machines that won't hesitate to attack anything that moves, showing no remorse even when their targets include former friends and family."

"Shadow Pokémon also obey orders from their superiors- for the more sentient ones, they obey those with power over them, and for the common Shadow Pokémon, they will simply obey those who are able to defeat them without breaking a sweat or displaying any fear. Both sides will only obey for as long as it is convenient to them, and are not afraid to turn their backs to those who normally would control them."

"These killing machines, when in combat, will not stop attacking until they are commanded to do so, they are killed themselves, or until their bodies completely run out of Power Points or they have taken enough damage to prevent them from moving. On the side, they completely ignore all forms of pain and injury to focus entirely on brutally murdering their targets, or until their objective is complete."

"This... it goes beyond the definitions of cruelty." Samantha spoke up as the Electric-type paused her reading.

"I know there are some unfair things out there, but this is just…" Taryn trailed off.

"Periculum was bad enough, terrorizing innocent Pokémon and taking our land." Oscar started.

"For them to completely remove a Pokémon's being and reduce them to weapons that are happy to kill their loved ones? Even I thought they couldn't be that bad." Nathan followed.

"...Let's take a water break, guys." Audrey stated. "I'm going to go call Claire and Ethan over if they aren't busy. They need to see this."

The quartet replied with a nod as the Durant captain walked out of the tent and brought out her cellphone.

"How could they do such a thing…?"

"Heads up." Taryn stated. "This stuff was updated for spelling errors about… Four years ago."

"What did you just say?" The owl archer quizzed.

"This file was last updated exactly four years ago, same day, same time. And it was created about five years ago."

"So, that means…" The firefox trailed off.

"…I don't like the sound of that either." The Water-type lancer said.

"Angel, what do you think?" Samantha queried. The Absol who had been leaning on one of the wooden shelves looked over to them.

"…"

"You don't have anything to say?"

"I'd be lying if I would say that." The Dark-type replied in monotone. "But I believe that not much needs to be said about it."

"But you still think that-"

"It's one of the worst possible things to have ever happened." The mercenary suddenly said, which cut off the Floatzel.

"That's all we needed to hear." The Grass- and Ghost-type gijinka responded.

"I'm back." The five gijinkas all turned to face Captain Audrey walking over to them with a bottle of water and a few plastic cups. She distributed them to her friends before pouring some water into her cup.

"Alright… Good to go?" Taryn questioned. The Bug-type replied with a nod.

"A Shadow Pokémon will fight until its last breath- that much has been confirmed. And they will do this regardless of their own strength. In simpler terms, if you put them up against an enemy they can't win against, they will still fight until either side dies off."

"Moves too, change with the Shadow Pokémon- and these moves give them their biggest advantage over other combatants- _Shadow Moves_. These are moves that are super-effective on every single known Pokémon type, and doubly so on those with a double-typing. For instance, _Shadow Rush_ with a power estimate of 50, will have a damage multiplier of four times against Pokémon like Golbat, Lairon, and Quagsire would take _massive_ amounts of damage from the move itself. Combined with the ferocity of the Shadow Pokémon user, a simple blow, even with reduced attacking power, can seriously injure a target. It would be like striking Scizor and Ferrothorn with Flamethrower, Graveler and Numel with Hydro Pump, or Vibrava and Gabite with an Ice Beam."

"On the side note, shadow moves do not count to the number of moves a Pokémon can learn- for instance, most Pokémon can learn a maximum of up to four moves, and to learn more than that would take extreme training. Shadow moves add up to the number of moves a Pokémon knows, but don't seem to limit the Pokémon's ability to use its original four or more moves. To put it simply, it would be like breathing for a Shadow Pokémon to have these moves. Sadly, however, most only learn one or two shadow moves at a time."

"…Taryn, how long has this file existed?" The Captain in the armored dress questioned.

"Five years, 'Dree." The eeveelution girl replied.

"Then… They could be among the ranks of soldiers we have already fought."

"That in itself is very scary."

"There's more." The Jolteon cleared her throat after drinking a little water from her cup. "These records all form Project Shadow, one of Periculum's major projects. However, all this data leads to the founding of this dark project."

"I think 'dark' is an understatement." The Braixen gijinka stated, earning a nod from the Jolteon and other forms of approval from her allies.

"The full details regarding _Project SE_ will be disclosed in a different file. Listed below will be some of the basic observations made, as well as a sort of "introduction" to the depths of our research." Taryn sighed. "You guys ready?"

"Go for it."

Angel, on the other hand, didn't reply. The white gijinka seemed not to notice them at all, looking down at the floor.

"Oh, uh, Angel… If you wanna step out for a bit, go on ahead." The Durant captain said. "I wouldn't want to keep you around if you don't want to-"

"Hmph." The Durant cut herself off as Angel walked out of the tent and drew her sword. "I'll go find something to defeat." The Dark-type stated before vanishing from view.

"…I guess that's her way of venting her shock." Samantha remarked.

"Okay… Ahem. Project S was founded shortly after much research was conducted with regards to the process and status, and after the experiment proved to be a success. It was later found that a certain few could stand over the others with impunity, even being able to command fellow Shadow Pokémon."

"Perfected Shadow Pokémon- that is the true end result to Project S. They follow the same behavior patterns as any other Shadow Pokémon, however, are fully sentient- they have as much thinking skill as that of an ordinary Pokémon, and they develop that to be able to strategize and adapt to their surroundings. Their total control over their primal desires of death and pain combined with their advanced minds put them at a threat level that rivals even the more powerful Legendary Pokémon such as Lugia."

"No way…"

"A Shadow Pokémon… That could be comparable to the results of our leaders and elites in shadow form…" Nathan trailed off.

"Ugh… That thought makes me kinda sick." Audrey said.

"Audrey and the others are already ridiculously strong and smart on their own… Fighting them is out of the question, but giving them powers like THAT?" The Sea Weasel gijinka said.

"Perfected Shadow Pokémon are also more advanced in their capabilities in combat aside from their intellect. They can learn more shadow moves than the average Shadow Pokémon, _completely_ ignore any forms of pain and statuses such as Burn, Poison, and Paralysis. Burns will only cut down a Perfected Shadow Pokémon's Physical Attacking power by 10%, as opposed to the usual 50%. Poison will eat away at a Perfected Shadow Pokémon much slower, giving one about three days from full health to rid of the status. As for Paralysis, it seems to be utterly ignored, but still present. When not in combat, the effects are as normal on a Perfected Shadow Pokémon."

"So… In a nutshell… Perfected Shadow Pokémon are going to be the end of the world." Nathan stated.

"Here's the last of it, everyone." Taryn said, gaining everyone's attention. "Despite our greatest efforts and plentiful research, only two Perfected Shadow Pokémon have been created so far, and one of them have escaped."

"An _escaped_ Shadow Pokémon?" Samantha mused.

"Well, this is disturbing news…" The Decidueye mused.

"…Where the hell are Claire and Ethan?"

"Right here, Audrey."

The group all turned to face a pair of figures walk into the tent- one a beautiful woman with an air of formality and authority, and the other, a somewhat old and bulky man with an presence of pure power.

"Lady Claire, General Ethan." Nathan greeted as he and his teammates save for Angel bowed down before the Glaceon and Golisopod.

The Glaceon standing at 5'9 wore a bluish white gown with a few small dark blue diamond patterns adorning the midsection horizontally, and one large diamond at the back. A tail matching her apparel fell a few decimeters above her feet, which were decorated with a pair of shiny blue sandals that seemed to be made from ice. Deep blue hair went down between her shoulders and the middle of her back. The woman's icy blue eyes looked up and down the group before her.

On the other hand, the Golisopod towered over the others at 6'4. Almost his entire body was covered in light grayish plates of heavy armor. The plates from the neck down to the upper torso were adorned with small green triangles. The remainder of the torso was exposed, revealing a light purple t-shirt underneath. An open-face helmet rested itself on his head, decorated with a pair of long antennae facing backwards diagonally going up. His eyes were like Audrey's- segmented, albeit colored black. While not obvious at first glance, he seemed much older than the rest of the people in the tent.

On his back were a pair of massive scabbards containing a light purplish rectangular handles (Think of the the Buster Sword, albeit wider).

"That last part is all we heard… But it is enough to tell me that whatever this is is not very pleasant." Claire, the Glaceon, spoke with a mild English accent.

"If you youngsters don't mind, let the two of us read what we missed out on." Ethan the Golisopod said.

"As you wish." Nathan said and led his teammates away to give the duo enough room to see the text.

"Ah, I need my glasses." The Hard Scale Pokémon gijinka muttered, before pulling out a small pair of glasses from a pocket in his shirt that was otherwise invisible.

"Age catching up to you?" Claire queried.

"A little, Claire." The old Golisopod gijinka replied. "Only enough to make me need glasses to read small fonts like this."

"That'll be good to know." The Glaceon replied as she and the General scanned through the document quickly.

A long pause ensued. The Resistance team and Captain all waited anxiously for the other two leaders to finish their reading.

"I see." The Glaceon gijinka stated to break the silence.

"Well, isn't this interesting news?" Ethan muttered before turning to the main cast plus Audrey. "Tell us, where did you find this?"

"General Ethan… We were out in the city scavenging for whatever resources Periculum left behind in their retreat towards the center of the city." Samantha began.

"On our way back here, we heard some noise in a building right next to us and a little light coming from the second floor." The Jolteon followed.

"We thought we saw someone running from the scene when we went up to investigate, but no one was there." The Sea Weasel Pokémon, Oscar, added.

"Then, we looked to the computer emitting light. The chair rolled around slightly, indicating that whoever escaped was using it. After having a quick peek at the files, Taryn plugged in her flash drive and copied everything." The owl archer finished.

"…"

The four Pokémon all waited, looking into the expressions of the General and Lady of the Resistance.

"Um, what are we going to do…?" Audrey asked in a slightly softer voice than usual.

Despite being one of the seven leaders of the Resistance, she still couldn't help but feel at least a little nervous in the presence of Ethan and Claire, especially after having just read what they did.

"We'll do the obvious." Ethan solemnly stated before cracking into a big grin. "Periculum's stepping up their game, eh? Then we'll just have to go about the first best way to counter them."

"Agreed." Claire cooly said as she casually did a light hair flip with her hand. "Audrey, be a dear and get this out to the Center for reading. We'll have our forces here pack up once we finish this mission."

The four Resistance team members relaxed as well as their Captain.

"Alright." The Durant sat down on the now empty chair and began typing away at seemingly random keys.

"So, what is this first best plan, if I may ask?" Nathan queried.

"We find the escapee before Periculum does!" The Water- and Bug-type replied enthusiastically. "It's about time they did something exciting anyway!"

"W-Wait, you're not freaked out at all by this?" The Braixen gijinka asked incredulously.

"Not very much, I have to say." Ethan replied. "Of course I know how terrible this is, but it does bring a certain sense of excitement to know I'll have to be going all out soon."

"What about you, Lady Claire?" Taryn questioned.

"I could say the same thing Ethan is." The Ice-type Eeveelution responded. "The war has been boring so far with both sides being at a stalemate for the past few months. With information like this, we'll be able to do something about that in our favor."

"Now, all we have to do is wait for a few more explosions." Ethan stated.

After a short pause, three explosions sounded in the distance. One after another, the sound of destruction seemed to grow farther and farther with each one.

"It looks like they bothered to synchronize it." Claire mused as she chuckled to herself. "Oh well…"

The Pokémon all walked out of the tent, leaving Audrey to message others while sending files to them.

"The way it lights the night sky ablaze is rather beautiful." The Glaceon remarked.

* * *

About an hour later, the Resistance forces all regrouped at the encampment, making it much busier than before. The medics would walk forth and back around tents with small bags, band-aids, medicines, Potions, and the like.

Ethan, Claire, and Audrey had done a little more reading before briefing everyone – about 487 gijinkas in total – about Project S.

As the crowd began to disperse and return to their respective tents, Angel deftly climbed up another scaffolding tower.

What she found was a certain green and brown owl in a hoodie sitting on the edge, watching some fires burn in the city. Nathan glanced behind him in acknowledgement of the Absol's presence.

"So what are you doing up here?" Nathan queried. Angel walked over to the edge, right next to the Decidueye gijinka.

"Nothing in particular." The Dark-type replied as she too gazed into the ravaged city.

"So, what do you think so far?" Angel gave Nathan a glance. "I mean, of us. Of the Resistance." The Absol mercenary stood in thought.

"Why does that matter to you?" She replied.

"Even though you won't be with us for very long, I don't think it would hurt to learn a little more about our fri—I mean, ally." Nathan said. Angel didn't reply but just watched the scenery. "I guess you're more used to others trying to pry you for info?"

Angel shook her head slowly in response.

"No… I just deem things like this unnecessary. All that matters is my contract and my pay." The Absol stated.

"Huh, alright. At least you're not so bad."

"You mean when I rescued all of you?" Nathan chuckled.

"Yeah. When we got cornered on the streets, and in that fight with the Machamp."

"Hmph. My contract states to keep you alive." Angel replied.

"So if we were dying and needed help and let's say you didn't have a contract…"

"I'd kill you on the spot." Angel replied in monotone. "Less suffering."

The Grass- and Ghost-type gulped and froze in shock for just a moment before sighing.

"Yeesh… But I guess it IS one way to look at it."

Angel didn't seem to mind and just stared out into the distance.

"So what do you plan on doing when your contract expires?" The Decidueye asked.

"Look for another employer."

"Wash, rinse, and repeat, huh? I guess it's a way to keep people off your backs."

After a short pause, a secondary explosion detonated nearby the first warehouse to explode- the one assaulted by the main cast.

"I'll be headed back down now. My shift's up, but you can ask the next guy if you wanna take his place." Nathan said with a tip of his hood. "Good night, Angel."

With that, the Decidueye stood up, took a few steps to the opposite end of the platform, and began to glide down towards the rest of the encampment.

"…Hm."

* * *

 **Move Limit:** Normally, Pokémon learn only up to four moves. And it already looks interesting enough in the anime, and makes for a hell of a strategic playing ground in the games. But since this doesn't exactly happen in a traditional Pokémon setting (be it core game, Ranger, MD, or something else), let's buff that up a little.

In this setting, the largest number of moves a Pokémon can know at any given time is 12 (can be seen on records of legendary Pokémon). This is discounting Arceus, Mew, and Smeargle since they can have every single move at once (In Smeargle's case, it would take some serious practice and decades of expertise). But normally, the average gijinka can learn up to four moves without trouble.

Remember baby Pokémon in the anime usually have less than four? Then they practice to get that fourth move, or it comes to them naturally? Works similarly here for those with 5 or more moves. Except, starting at five moves, it gets increasingly more difficult to learn any more moves.

A pair of good examples here will be Audrey and Claire. Revealing their movesets now isn't much of a problem since it isn't a big deal for spoilers, so no worries.

Audrey: Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, Stone Edge, Flash Cannon, Iron Defense

Claire: Hail, Shadow Ball, Blizzard, Ice Shard, Aurora Veil, Water Pulse

Audrey has five moves- her fifth move (which can be anything since I scrambled the order they learned the moves) took her plenty of training. And even then, she would have to constantly practice all five moves for at least a month after learning her fifth move. This is to ensure that one move isn't accidentally "forgotten."

The same rule applies to Claire. The difficulty just increases the more moves one has.

Now I mentioned that the limit is 12, right? Only the most powerful legendaries (Base stat totals of 660 [+ Zygarde 50%] and above, discounting megas) _usually_ get there. Legendary and Mythical Pokémon have a much easier time learning plenty of moves, but always start out within the reach of regular Pokémon.

Examples:

Lugia: Aeroblast, Safeguard, Hydro Pump, Earthquake, Psychic, Recover, Ancientpower, Dive, Giga Drain, Skill Swap, Reflect, Calm Mind.

Kyurem: Glaciate, Scary Face, Ancientpower, Slash, Imprison, Endeavor, Toxic, Roost, Rock Tomb, Focus Blast, Hone Claws, Iron Head

 **Power Points:** In the regular games, moves have power points- for example, Protect has 10 by default, and can have a maximum of 16 with a PP Max or 6 PP Ups. Here, it would work more like MP does in the Final Fantasy series- for example, a Fire spell would cost 4MP to use. Here, let's say Samantha's Flamethrower would cost about 10PP to use. To get a better idea, here are the practical examples the main cast use:

Angel's Night Slash – 6PP

Nathan's Spirit Shackle – 8PP

Taryn's Thunderbolt – 10PP

Oscar's Liquidation – 8PP

Samantha's Psybeam – 6PP

So, what are the maximum Power Points a Pokémon can have? This depends on these factors, in order of descending importance: Species, Skill, Moveset. Let's get Nathan, Angel, and Ethan for our examples here.

Nathan is better than the average Decidueye, and that's thanks to his training. His moveset includes Spirit Shackle, Foresight, Haze, and Razor Leaf- each having 8PP, 2PP, 4PP, and 5PP consumption respectively. The total PP consumption would be 19PP per move.

Angel is a highly skilled combatant, being known as one of Driasia's Top Mercenaries (although known only to a few). Her moveset involves Night Slash(6PP), Ice Beam(10PP), Double Team (3PP), and Shadow Ball(8PP). Total consumption is equivalent to 27PP.

Ethan isn't a Resistance Leader for nothing- he's one of the strongest Pokémon they have to offer, and was formerly a General in the original Driasian military. His moveset involves: Sucker Punch(12PP), Focus Blast(25PP), Sludge Bomb(10PP), First Impression(12PP), Razor Shell(8PP), and Wide Guard(7PP). His total PP consumption per move would be 74PP per move.

So with those data points, I'd say Nathan would have around 220PP, Angel with 480, and Ethan with 570. The average civilian who has no fighting experience could have anywhere from 25 ~ 60PP, depending on how much they use their moves and how much power they use.

What I mean by that is let's say one uses Thunder Wave to charge their phone once a day. Thunder Wave would cost 5PP to use. Let's say this guy would have 30PP, meaning he would be left with 25PP at the end of the day.

Or one using Water Gun (3PP) rather than a faucet, Ember (3PP) to light a campfire, Vine Whip(3PP) / Confusion (3PP) to carry things around, etc.

This thing was REALLY hard to make (especially the total PP thing), but I'm open to suggestions. I could really use them now, hehe. For simplicity's sake, I'm not going to make lists of moves and their consumptions- I'll leave that to your imagination.

 **Updated Character Heights(Yes, I forgot that I promised that up there and only changed it now):**

Angel - 5'6 / 171cm

Taryn Bailey - 5'4 / 165cm

Oscar Trevin - 5'5 / 167cm

Samantha Autumn - 5'1 / 155cm

Nathan Shaw - 5'7 / 174cm

Captain Audrey Chiyumi - 3'7 / 113cm

Lady Claire Whitfield - 5'9 / 180cm

General Ethan Lawson - 6'4 / 195cm


	3. C3 - Relics

Shadows in War, Segment 1, Chapter 3 – Relics

* * *

 _ **DISCLAIMER: No, I still don't have anything to do with Pokémon. I just own this story and its characters. And maybe a few copies of the games.**_

 _Update (9/24/2017): The messages are down below! You could read them first if you want to, then come back here. Given that this is a re-write, I'm pretty sure it doesn't count as spoilers for some._

* * *

Lively chatter filled the halls and rooms. Slate blue metal made up the walls, ceilings, and floors. Everywhere in the Resistance base, Pokémon were talking about the briefing earlier given by Ethan. Claire had already left for the bases in the Southwest, and the news about their findings was spreading across the Driasian Resistance quickly.

But in a lonesome room full of computers and monitors, a certain Durant Captain sat silently, watching one of the monitors with another gijinka sitting next to her.

A boy who looked to be in his teens scanned every pixel on the monitor with a pair of emotionless green eyes. His straight hair was brushed sideways going downwards to the left side of his face. The boy wore a blue vest over a white collared shirt over a pair of blue slacks. White dress shoes finished his look. A good look at him would put him at a height of around 5'3.

"Here?" Audrey questioned as the Meowstic gijinka pointed to the screen. A silent nod came from the Psychic-type. "Alright." Audrey moved the cursor over to the folder the boy pointed at.

Matt Reverdin- a mute teen who served as the Resistance's best when it came to software. He could hack into anything, make advanced programs quickly, and alter basically anything on any sort of device to his liking- and effortlessly, at that.

However, his genius came with its thorns. The boy was mute, and his telepathy was not very well developed as he focused his studying and skill practices entirely on gadgets.

Position and traits aside, Matt was one of Audrey's best friends, and shared many colleagues within the Resistance- for the most part, he was more well-known amongst the younger members and the non-combatants who would spread news, gather information, and live amongst the neutral and Periculum-controlled towns and cities in Driasia.

Of course, not to say Matt didn't have any friends outside that circle.

"Ah-ha. Thanks, Matt." Audrey said. The mute Meowstic smiled at her and stood up and began walking quietly away. "So, I'll just…?" Matt turned to face the Captain and nodded. "Okie dokies. Thanks again for the help." The Psychic-type raised a hand as he vanished around the corner. Audrey turned the chair back to the computer. "So this is it, huh…?"

* * *

"What?" Angel asked.

"Whatcha doing?" A particular Jolteon asked.

In a room with ten bunk beds sat the main cast. Nathan was lying back on one bed whilst reading a book, Samantha was playing a video game on a computer with a fiery orange monitor, Oscar was asleep, while Taryn watched Angel. The Absol in question was lying down on a top bunk with her sword out.

The Dark-type paused completely- as if she was frozen…

…Before casting her eyes in the Electric-type's direction.

The Lightning Pokémon gijinka gulped and nearly stepped back on the floor, but stood her ground as the Absol stared at her with her body frozen in time, even the sword.

"…"

Angel's pause ended and she continued to fiddle around her broadsword. The yellow gijinka sighed half in relief and half in exasperation before walking over to the orange monitor played by the Braixen gijinka.

"Sunuvabeach." Samantha cursed under her breath as a train shot a massive projectile at her, killing her character. Enemies began closing in on the bridge while the Fire-type desperately spammed a key to respawn…

"There's a real life revolution going on and people STILL have the time to play a World War I game?" Taryn asked.

"Apparently…" Samantha mused as the game ended with her team losing. However, the yellow and orange fox gijinka perked back up when she saw the scoreboard putting her as the team's MVP.

"Imagine some of the players there are in Periculum." Nathan said, earning a little laugh out of the girls.

"Welp, statuses in the real world should have nothing to do with businesses and stuff like this." Taryn remarked.

"Yeah. Real world politics should leave these things alone." Samantha followed.

"Don't you just hate it when people's view of a business changes just because the owner has his own opinions?" The Jolteon asked.

The Fire- and Grass-types nodded, while Oscar raised a hand in a thumbs up with his face still buried in the pillow. Angel merely gave them a glance.

"You up now, sleepyhead?" The Jolteon queried as she sat down next to the awakened Floatzel gijinka.

"Yeah…" Oscar replied and stood up to stretch. "What time is it?"

"One-fourty PM." The Firefox responded as she shut off the computer.

A knock on the door prompted everyone to turn their gazes there. A lady clad in a pink dress going down to her knees stood there. She donned a pair of rounded glasses and held a clipboard in her left arm.

"Excuse me. General Ethan is looking for you." The Clefable gijinka said politely before turning and leaving, but not before closing the door.

"The General is looking for us?"

"What for?"

* * *

"General Ethan." The team said with a bow, while Angel didn't say a word and stood straight. Ethan nodded at them and motioned for them to take a seat.

"First, I want to commend you all for finding that hard drive. While the source itself isn't entirely reliable, it still IS useful, since it matches up with our data beforehand. That, and the Master finds that the data itself seems legit."

The four gijinkas all exchanged glances before turning back to Ethan.

"Thank you, General." Samantha responded formally.

"Now… It is also thanks to that data that we can officially attack Periculum." The Golisopod gijinka stated.

"So, you mean…" The Grass- and Ghost-type archer trailed off.

"We've found a way into one of their main bases."

"Alright, then why don't we hit them with all we've got?" Oscar asked.

"Now is not the time. We are not ready yet." The Resistance General said. "We still have to plan for that, and run a few more ops out in the field before we can tackle their base in the West."

"Oh, you mean collect more intel?" The Electric-type Eeveelution quizzed, getting a nod in response.

"Carrying on, we've found plenty of key points of information within outposts and small bases around Driasia, particularly here in the Northwestern regions. Your next mission is to head to an outpost hidden within the Flare Desert by the northern border. Periculum has been moving something there, and we don't know exactly what."

Matt appeared holding a tablet. The Meowstic waved a "hi" to the Pokémon in the room before pulling up a holographic screen from the ceiling with a little Telekinesis.

"Matt here will show you just about everything we've got for this op." The General stated as the five Pokémon all scanned the details on the screen.

"Quite a small place, moderate security, nothing you shouldn't be able to handle regardless of approach." Ethan added.

"Hm… I'm a little unsure of that." Nathan mused.

"What makes you say that?" Oscar queried.

"It's just… I'm getting a bad feeling from looking at that place."

" _So do I._ " Appeared on the screen at the bottom part. The Psychic-type in the room tapped on keys to change the text. " _The General is right, but I can't deny that this place doesn't feel right._ "

"Yes. Which is why we'll give you this." The Golisopod tossed a small radio beacon at the team, which Taryn caught. "Use that if things get rough, and Eagle Squadron will come to assist within ten."

" _Now, going over equipment…_ " The Constraint Pokémon typed as new images began appearing on the screen in small windows made to fit them. " _Five dune buggies are waiting in the hangar to cover for your transportation. Observable defenses would be a minefield for a doorstep, a few sentry towers made of wood, and then the main opposition._ "

"I expect you to leave whenever you're ready." The General of the Resistance stated. "Clear?"

"As a crystal, General." The owl archer replied with a bow. With that, Ethan bade the group farewell and left the room.

Right as the team were about to leave, Matt caught their attention after tugging on Oscar's sleeve.

"Huh? What is it, buddy?" The Water-type lancer questioned. The Meowstic gijinka pointed back to the screen, where new text was waiting.

" _Before you leave, take these_." Matt pointed to the screen containing the text before handing each of the gijinkas a small earpiece.

"Alright. Thanks, Matt." Nathan said. The Meowstic gave the team a smile and pulled the screen back up to the ceiling with psychic power before exiting the room.

"I'll be waiting at the van." Angel said quickly before quickly leaving the room as well.

"She sure is bright, huh?" Oscar mused.

"I guess it's just her." Samantha added.

"At least she's effective." Nathan followed.

"C'mon team, let's get ready." Taryn said as the group followed her out.

* * *

The only movement in the arid and craggy desert was that of five sand buggies rolling across mounds of sand and rock, evading cactus, Maractus, and Cacturne nearby. The camouflage kept everything but the passing sand on the wheels hidden.

"Hey, how's the ride?" Oscar asked.

"I'm hating all this damn sand." Taryn replied. The two boys chuckled in response over the earpieces.

"Let's just get this over with. I don't want to spend too much time cleaning myself from this sand." Samantha said.

After driving a short distance further, the Absol of the group gave them the command to stop at the base of a sand dune.

"What's up?" Oscar queried. Angel got out of her buggy and took a few steps to the top of the dune.

"The outpost is just past this hill." The Dark-type said as she got back down to her buggy. "Just like in the briefing. Archers, snipers, and ranged attackers stationed on the scouting towers, with others ready to get dug into the courtyard at a moment's notice."

"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us." The Decidueye remarked.

"Any ideas?" Samantha queried. Angel closed her eyes for a moment and went back up the hill on foot with only her eyes and ear scythe sticking out from the top.

"Jolteon, do you think you can get into their security feeds without getting caught?" Angel queried. Taryn paused to think for a moment, choosing to ignore the fact that the mercenary hadn't bothered to learn their names.

"I might be able to." The yellow gijinka replied.

* * *

"Gah!"

A Drapion gijinka fell to the ground. Once he looked back up at his attacker, his entire body, save for his head, was frozen solid.

Oscar walked out from the shadows of the semi-lit corridor and helped Angel pull the Drapion into a room. The room was filled with wooden barrels on the left wall and couches on the right. Dim yellow lights gave the place the feel of a quaint little bar.

Taryn, Samantha, and Nathan were all seated down, watching their Floatzel and Absol companions shut the door behind them quietly.

"Isn't it convenient that this room is soundproofed?" Samantha mused.

"Now, tell us what you're keeping here." Oscar put his foot down next to the Drapion's head as the other three walked closer. The Poision-type spit to the side.

"You're not getting anything out of me, you Resistance scumbags!"

"Bad choice of words, pal." The Floatzel gijinka stated before a smack from Samantha's stick reached the Poison- and Dark-type's head.

The Periculum Pokémon screamed in agony as his vision blurred for just a moment. However, he laughed right afterwards.

"You idiots really think you can take this outpost by yourselves?" The Ogre Scorpion Pokémon stated. "Security should be on their way now. And all possible exits will be closed off."

"I wouldn't worry about the cameras since I hacked them all." The Jolteon said with a chuckle. "Right about now, your buddies are seeing a bunch of pictures of empty halls."

"Not to mention that they're not paying enough attention to notice that it's still." The Fire-type gijinka added.

"Now… Tell us what this outpost is used for." Angel coldly commanded as she pointed her blade to the Drapion's frozen midsection.

"How the hell is that a threat?" The Drapion asked.

The Disaster Pokémon responded by slicing off some ice with a sudden swipe from her sword, surprising her allies. This left the Drapion's crotch area open to the outstretched Night Slash.

"Oh Arceus, not there! Anything but that!" The Periculum gijinka screamed.

"I won't ask this again. What is the purpose of an outpost here so close to the border?" Her voice contained a slight amount of venom, just enough to be noticed by everyone in the room.

"OK, that's really far…" Oscar remarked.

"I'm glad I'm not in his place right now." Nathan added as he and the Floatzel watched on with fear while Samantha and Taryn both gulped.

"OK, OK, I'll answer your questions! Just please put that thing away before I lose my pride!" The Ogre Scorpion Pokémon pleaded.

The Absol mercenary blankly obliged and took a few steps away from the Drapion.

"Um… OK… Now, give us the answers."

"Data. We're a medium to transfer sensitive files throughout Driasia without being caught." The Drapion explained. "The big guys thought that it would be better to keep their transportations secret through smaller outposts and bases like these."

"So what about the cargo crates and containers they occasionally ship and fly around?" Oscar queried. The Drapion glanced back at a menacing Angel and gulped.

"They're there for show. Little is contained in there and we put up strong-looking guards all around to use as a front to keep your eyes distracted from what's really going on."

"…Very well. I'll spare you." Angel stated as she headed for the door. "Behave yourself here and we won't have to hurt you any further."

A light Ice Beam replaced the sliced off ice and added an extra layer over for security reasons.

"Well… I'll go check our surroundings." Samantha mused as she produced a medium-sized pink gem from her bag. The Braixen's eyes glowed blue for a moment as the gem turned into ashes in her hand.

"Angel, did you really have to go that far?" The Arrow Quill Pokémon queried warily.

"I normally wouldn't stain my blade- so it's only a threat. But if it's called for, I'm not afraid to do it." The Dark-type replied blankly.

"…This girl is some stupid kind of scary." The Sea Weasel Pokémon commented.

"We're in the clear." The firefox suddenly said, gaining everyone's attention, save for the frozen Drapion. "Taryn, update your map…"

"Gotcha." The two girls began exchanging information with the Electric-type hacker adding to her database according to the descriptions of the Fire-type's telepathy gem.

"Okay everyone, here's our game plan now." The Braixen started. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the Jolteon gijinka piping up.

"We're splitting up- Nathan, you're going to the security rooms. Try to secure it if you can, but otherwise, just keep us updated on their stuff. Samantha here try to get us an emergency exit route, while Oscar and Angel head to the east wing where they're keeping their special data. I'll head into the north wing and hit the other data point there."

"I was supposed to say that…"

"Oh, sorry." Taryn sheepishly scratched the back of her head as she gave Samantha an apologetic smile.

"Will do." Nathan stated as he exited the room and vanished into the shadows.

"We should go now too. Periculum isn't going to stay blind to us forever." The Braixen gijinka stated as she and Taryn both headed out too.

"You good at stealth?" Oscar questioned. Angel glanced at him before walking out herself and pulling out her cellphone to check the map Taryn hacked into it.

* * *

Nathan stood completely still, concealed in the darkness of the hallway's walls as a pair of Periculum guards walked by.

Once he was sure they were gone and he couldn't hear any closer footsteps, the owl archer stepped forward then continued dashing silently around the halls.

" _Control room is just up ahead. They shouldn't have found that Drapion yet..._ " The Grass- and Ghost-type thought to himself. " _Not as many people seem to patrol these halls… Something is a bit off about that._ "

After a little more sneaking and peering into rooms with Foresight, the Decidueye gijinka finally reached the door to the control room.

" _Security's tight…_ " The archer thought as he examined the keypad and scanner on the wall. " _I'll just have to find another way in._ "

The Ghost-type looked around and grinned as he saw an air duct right above him.

* * *

Taryn gulped as she hid herself behind a crate. The three guards passed her by without even noticing her, seeming rather relaxed.

" _Good. They haven't found anything yet._ " The Electric-type Pokémon thought. " _Okay… Another left turn, a right turn, then it's the third door on the left._ "

The Jolteon quietly slunk around the halls, making sure to evade the soldiers and check her phone for the camera footage.

" _I sure hope Nathan's got his part done. Won't be long 'till they notice that they've been hacked._ "

She eventually reached a vault door the size of a regular sliding door. A keypad with a fingerprint scanner rested on the wall next to it, while two cameras watched the door at different angles.

" _Whatever's in here must be something big._ " The Lightning Pokémon let her thoughts drift off to Golems, Flygons, and other Ground-types that would take out her kind without much effort. " _Okay, I need to focus._ "

The girl checked her phone for the cameras and after making sure no one was in her immediate area, she switched to the hacking app she used for fingerprint scanners.

"Let's see… Four tries, over two-hundred different fingertips… They have a lot less people here than I thought." The girl quietly mused to herself.

* * *

" _I wish I had a Spore or Sleep Powder gem…_ "

The Braixen hid behind a large wooden crate in the courtyard. The scouts on the towers up high watched warily for any sign of foreign movement in the distance while the others were content to simply sit around.

" _About… Fifty of these guys here?_ " The Fire-type mused inwardly as she scanned her surroundings. " _This is the only other way out since our entrance was a one-way route…_ "

"You guys seen Drape anywhere? Can't find the bastard." An Electrike gijinka in Periculum's white armor asked of the other soldiers standing around.

"He said he was getting something to eat, wasn't he?"

"Jackass is taking way too long."

"Probably got called to the control room or something."

"Probably."

" _Good, they don't suspect a thing yet._ " The Firefox assumed that they were talking about the Drapion they froze earlier. " _So if that's a minefield… I think I can make this work._ "

* * *

Angel was quite annoyed.

One, her ally, Oscar, wasn't good at stealth. Two, that caused them to get caught…

…Three, right outside the door sealing their objective.

A Krokorok with a knife and a Darumaka gijinka backed by a Pumpkaboo with a crossbow glared down the Water-type and Dark-type Pokémon standing before them.

"We've got an intruder, a Floatzel and an Absol in the Control Room!" The Ghost- and Grass-type wielding the crossbow stated into a walkie talkie.

"Alright, who wants some?" Oscar stated as he took a battle stance.

"You!" The Krokorok shouted. He created a swirling vortex of sand and launched it at the Water-type.

Oscar retaliated with a Water Pulse, giving him a path out of the Sand Tomb. As Oscar escaped however, the Darumaka pelted him with an Incinerate attack. Oscar grunted and twirled midair to avoid a crossbow bolt from the Pumpkaboo.

On the other hand, the Absol was busying herself trying to pick the lock on the door with a bobby pin and screwdriver. The mercenary glanced back to the fighting to check on the Floatzel's status.

Oscar managed to evade a Fire Punch but grunted as the super-effective Razor Leaf attack pelted him.

Right as the Ground-type soldier was about to stab the Sea Weasel Pokémon in the side, Oscar retaliated with a Liquidation attack to force back his attacker.

"Not so fast!" The Pumpkaboo yelled as she began spinning rapidly and threw herself towards the Water-type.

" _He'll be able to hold them off._ " The Dark-type mused inwardly as she sighed and pulled out another bobby pin. " _I'll need to restock on these sometime soon._ "

"Hey, Angel, mind hurrying up over there!?" The Water-type gijinka exclaimed as he hurled a large boulder at the Darumaka, sending the Fire-type flying into the walls. He then had to shoot a Water Pulse to keep back a crossbow bolt but ended up getting a slash from the Krokorok's knife.

Sirens began blaring as Oscar took four steps backward from the impact of the knife's attack. With a low growl, the Floatzel shot multiple small, pulsing bursts of water that struck the targets.

"Heh, looks like your time's up." The Pumpkaboo stated.

"Urgh…" The Krokorok gijinka got back on his feet and smirked. "Give it up, pal. We'll make

"Give up? I hope you have a dictionary, 'cause that isn't part of my vocabulary!" Oscar yelled as he hurled his watery spear at the Krokorok, sending the Ground-type to the floor with a cry of agony.

As the Pumpkaboo was about to use a Razor Leaf, she was hit by an Ice Beam from above.

The Darumaka, having just recovered from the Rock Tomb looked to the new attacker- Angel.

"About damn time." The Floatzel remarked as Angel's Night Slash connected with the downed Krokorok, then the Pumpkaboo, forcing them back further. The Absol took the spear and tossed it back to the Water-type.

" **Don't you guys worry. Samantha's on her way there.** " Nathan's voice suddenly stated from the speakers. " **The sudden alert made my job much easier, so I thought I'd take the liberty of using this room to our advantage.** "

"Things are looking up." The Sea Weasel Pokémon mused.

"Hm… You go clear the room." The Disaster Pokémon commanded quietly. "I'll be done with these three in two minutes."

"Sheesh, alright." The lancer replied. "I think I'll use a Potion before I go."

While Oscar downed a bottle of the liquid, Angel's glare seemed to scare the three soldiers on the ground.

"W-Who the hell are you!?" The Darumaka exclaimed as he examined the bleeding wound on the Krokorok gijinika. The Pumpkaboo too was not doing too well, looking like her hit points were close to the blood threshold.

"To be able to d-do that much damage in one swing… And hit two enemies with that…" The archer mumbled.

"Y-You fucking bitch…" The Ground- and Dark-type cursed.

The girl clad in white didn't answer and raised her bronze-bladed weapon to the air as a dark energy filled it.

"Die."

* * *

"Come on, come on…" Samantha panted as she ran through the halls, blasting away Periculum soldiers with Flamethrowers and Psybeams aimed at the floor. "As long as Angel's there, Oscar should be alright, but…"

The Fire-type gijinka stopped in her tracks as she reached a familiar hallway with a soaking wet Dark- and Poison-type standing there with jaws of fire.

"Really think I wouldn't find a way out of that, girly?" The Drapion asked as the Fire Fang vanished. "You and your friends aren't getting out of here alive."

"Grr… We'll see about that!" The Braixen retorted as she drew her stick and began charging a Shock Wave.

* * *

"Well, saves me the trouble of dealing with stealth." Taryn mumbled as she stood up straight and the hack finished. "Now, what's in here?"

The Jolteon opened the door with a flick of her arm and walked into the room cautiously.

"What the hell…?" The Electric-type mused. " _This feeling… What is this?_ "

The dark gray room was linear and narrow, with three doors towards the end. One on the left, right, and center.

"What is this place?"

As the Eeveelution hacker approached the doors, she stopped when she heard fierce growling coming from the left side. The kind of growling that made her hair stand on end, and you'd hear from a really, really angry Dragon-type.

With tentative steps, she drew closer to the left hand door where the growling was coming from.

Through the bull bars and glass, she could see a large group of Pokémon gijinkas standing there, each with a sword, axe, mace, club, hammer, spear, or bow in hand. The darkness of the room made their species difficult to identify, making the weapons and their figures the only thing the Jolteon could see.

"These guys… Something's not right with them."

Taryn turned to the right-hand door behind her and opened it. Strange devices lined the walls while shelves and containers were on the opposite side. The items inside gave the Jolteon the creeps, making her gulp and turn to the center door.

That door was much, _much_ heavier than the other two. It looked like it wouldn't break down, not even with a barrage of punches from a Machamp or from the Outrage of a Dragonite.

The Eeveelution girl held her gloved hand to it.

"What… Why is it so warm?" She asked as she removed her hand from the door. "And why is this thing so… Strong-looking?" The Jolteon then turned back to the right-hand room.

"…Bingo."

* * *

"This room's clear of enemies, full of computers." Oscar said as the Absol approached him after exactly one-hundred and twenty seconds.

Angel the Dark-type gave a swift nod before following the Floatzel into the room.

" **Looks like you've made it in. Go extract whatever files you can, then we regroup in the control room.** " Nathan's voice said over the speakers.

"You got that, buddy." The Floatzel replied.

Angel was quick to access the computers and begin downloading plenty of files to a hard drive sitting around. Oscar did the same and got to other computers, taking flash drives and downloading as many files as they can.

* * *

The knocked out bodies (not corpses, mind you) of Periculum guards were piled up to one side of the room with each one of them tied up- with power binders on the limbs of those who potentially had a move to escape.

A certain Decidueye gijinka was managing the security room by himself, keeping track of all the cameras and audio systems. He now shared his control over it with Taryn, so now the cameras were all updated.

Soldiers everywhere were rushing to either the control room or the guard's office where the owl archer was seated. However, his room was tightly closed up and getting in wouldn't be very easy with the keyholders sleeping in heaps on the floor.

As for the case of his friends, Oscar and Angel would be completely fine- the Water-type could hold his own in a long battle, and he had one of the most skilled Pokémon the Decidueye's ever seen.

Samantha, on the other hand, was fighting against the now defrosted Drapion. While the Poison- and Dark-type did seem intimidating thanks to species, the Braixen was easily keeping up the fight. Her progress was slowed only by her opponent's stubbornness as well as him dragging out the fight with whatever methods possible.

" _I have to admit, that Drapion isn't actually half bad when it comes to staying alive. But against Samantha, he won't be able to keep that up forever. Especially with her Disable gem._ " The archer thought to himself before his thoughts turned to the last of his friends in the outpost.

"Hm, where is Taryn…?"

Nathan Shaw switched to his earpiece rather than the microphone before him. If his friend had been captured or was still hidden, he'd want to keep things low.

"Taryn… Taryn, this is Nathan. Come in."

After a momentary pause, the Grass- and Ghost-type gijinka got a response.

" _N-Nathan… We need to get the hell out of here…_ Now." The Jolteon's frightened voice said.

"Taryn? What's going on on your end?"

" _Where are the others? You need to warn them._ " The Electric-type's voice replied.

"Hang on, what's your status? Are you still hidden? I can't find you on the cameras."

" _Nathan… We're all going to die if we can't get out of here in the next few minutes! You HAVE to tell the others now!_ "

"Taryn, calm down! I need the details!" The Decidueye exclaimed. A short pause ensued before the Jolteon started speaking again.

"I'm still hidden. No one knows I'm here. No cameras in these rooms… And…"

* * *

"Stay out!"

A mass of large boulders flung by a rather tired looking Floatzel blocked the door. Oscar gasped for breath at having to use so many Rock Tombs in quick succession, but smiled at his work nevertheless.

"Alright, that should keep those idiots out for now. The transfer done?"

"Hmph…" Angel glanced back at him before displaying the timer on the largest screen in the room.

"One more minute, huh? This thing'll last." The Floatzel stated as he gave the boulder mass a tap. "Yo, Nathan. We're a minute away and we're kinda trapped in here. Any ideas?"

For eight seconds, no reply came.

"Uh, Nathan? I know you can hear me." The Sea Weasel Pokémon gijinka stated as he checked his earpiece to make sure it was working. "Nathaaaaaaaaaan?'

" **Oscar, Angel, and Samantha. Can you all hear me?** "

* * *

Before the Braixen gijinka lay the knocked out Drapion. His limbs twitched with paralysis and burn marks covered his body.

"Nathan?" The Fire-type mused as she twirled her body around for a moment. "I can hear you. What's up?"

" **We're getting out of here in exactly three minutes and twenty-eight seconds. I've already signaled Eagle Squadron to hover as backup. Get whatever you can and run for the main entrance! Go!** " The Grass- and Ghost-type's voice boomed over the speakers.

"What? But we just got in here!" Samantha complained.

" **No time to explain, just get out before it's too late!** " The archer yelled. From the speakers, the sounds of Pokémon barging into the room played, followed by them screaming bloody murder as battle cries or from being shot in what Samantha assumed where their sensitive parts, based on how they were screaming.

"Nathan… Got it."

* * *

"Uh, Angel, any moment now…"

Oscar widened his eyes as the Rock Tomb blockade was destroyed, revealing a bunch of angry soldiers. However, they were met with a small, heavy rock that struck one of them in the face.

"Ow! What the fuck…"

"…GRENADE!"

The blast sent back the entire group. Through the smoke, a Water Pulse and Shadow Ball were shot, dealing further damage to the Periculum guards and soldiers.

"What in the hell is going on!?"

"This!"

Oscar's Liquidation struck an Inkay gijinka, sending the Dark- and Psychic-type flying back to a wall where he joined the fallen.

* * *

Taryn regretted her decision to get the door open. Even by just a decimeter.

The Jolteon's Agility allowed her to zoom past the soldiers without them noticing her- appearing as a blur with a gust following it to the Periculum Pokémon headed for the Control and Security Rooms.

" _Wait, that's-_ "

The Jolteon stopped in her tracks to see a certain Braixen at the end of the hallway. She seemed to be facing an enemy or more based on her stance and the few slash marks on her dress.

"Samantha!"

The Fire-type nodded as her Electric-type friend approached her. Once she did, however, Taryn gulped at their surroundings.

From both ends of the hallway, the girls were completely surrounded by Periculum soldiers.

"I'm going to guess more are coming from your exit?" The Firefox queried. With a sigh, the Lightning Pokémon gijinka in yellow nodded.

"Samantha, you got any gems to get rid of the guys on that side?" The Jolteon asked. "We need to get out right now!"

"Ugh… I used up my Explosion Gem on that damn Drapion when he tried to use Knock Off."

"Great."

"Get down, now!"

The two girls barely had enough time to duck as a barrage of Razor Leaves struck down the soldiers in the direction opposite to the exit.

The soldiers all gasped and turned to face a rather tired-looking owl archer standing there with his hoodie strings extended into a bow.

"Leave my friends alone." Nathan coldly stated before shooting down the soldiers in their way.

"Attack! Attack now!" One of them screamed.

Samantha turned to see a hammer about to slam into her and Taryn from the side. She braced herself for the hit, but didn't feel any impact.

"Grr…"

"Oscar!" the Jolteon exclaimed. The Floatzel, Oscar, was holding back the hammer with a Liquidation in his spear.

"Get… Moving… Can't… Keep this up!" The Water-type stated.

The Fire-type responded by moving out then shooting a Flamethrower to keep back a few projectile attacks from the other wave of Periculum fighters.

"Back off!" Taryn roared as she let loose a barrage of Thunderbolts into the corridor she came from, electrocuting a large amount of enemies.

Nathan avoided an Air Cutter thrown his way by a Dustox clad in purple and green armor. Before the attacker could do anything else, a swing from a bronze blade sent it down to the ground where the wound came close to bleeding.

"Hmph…"

"W-Who the fuck…" One of the guards muttered.

"That sword… It can't be…"

In the blink of an eye, a Night Slash cut down a Maractus, a Stunfisk, and a Timburr.

Following that, the Absol blocked a Hippopotas' axe and parried the blow, forcing back the Ground-type. With a Shadow Ball shot by reflex, the axe fell out of the opponent's hand and into the waiting bodies of a Karrablast and Roselia.

"There she goes again." Nathan remarked before shooting down the Darmanitan holding the hammer against Oscar's spear.

With a sudden Ice Beam, the entire group of Periculum soldiers blocking the team's exit were blasted out of the way or frozen in place. Either way, it gave the team their cue to go.

"One minute left!" Taryn exclaimed. "Exit's just that way!"

"Roger." The Floatzel stated.

The main cast all hurried out, swiftly taking down whoever came up front mostly with Angel's sword.

" _Just how strong is she to have that much attacking power?_ " Samantha mentally questioned herself.

" _They mentioned something about her sword… As if they recognized it._ " Nathan also thought to himself.

* * *

Within a few more seconds, the team managed to escape the base, but now were faced with a minefield up front, scouts around them, and a load of angry Pokémon behind them.

"Uh… I don't suppose throwing a grenade or gem into that minefield will work, will it?" The Water-type gijinka asked.

"It won't be enough to clear the way for all of us." The Arrow Quill Pokémon replied.

"It's over for you!" An Electrike gijinka yelled.

" _A water tank…? I think I might be able to use that._ " The Absol mused internally. However, a sharp sensation snapped her out of her musings and caused her to look around more cautiously.

Before the Dark-type could send an Ice Beam to the tank, the radio beacons the team all carried began beeping.

"I advise you get your heads down, over."

A whole flock of men wearing lightweight armor painted navy blue were swooping down at high speed towards the brawl. Some carried swords, others wielded spears and axes, still others carried bows, and the rest had sniper rifles, marksman rifles, and regular combat rifles slung to their bodies. Their feathered tails were colored red with a bright blue and yellow stripe at the end. Yellow boots bore sharp talon-like claws, and white feathers surrounded the heads. Each wore a blue scarf with the Resistance emblem. Large and powerful wings colored red on top and navy blue underneath were tucked in as the Braviary dove into the fray.

"What the HELL!?"

"RUN!"

The Eagles roared as they fought back the Periculum soldiers with just their sheer strength. Once they had cleared the area before the main cast, they all drew their weapons.

"Eagle Squadron, at your service." The largest Braviary gijinka introduced with a bow. His face bore what may once have been a brutal scar going through his eye, and his armor was scratched and scathed. He gave the impression of a war veteran, and his piercing gaze could tell stories of large-scale battles. "I hope we made it on time."

"You always do." Nathan fist-bumped the leader Braviary.

"Good to see we made it, Nathan. Now, let us fight these scoundrels off!" The Flying-type roared as he turned and drew a claymore and dashed into the fray.

A chaotic battle ensued between the many soldiers and the obviously outnumbered Eagle Squadron. However, with incredible strength and masterful tactics, the Resistance Braviary began overpowering the Periculum forces.

"Alright, now we're seeing some results." Nathan mused as he began shooting the scouts out of their towers.

"Do you guys have what we need?" Taryn queried.

"Yeah, Angel's got them." Oscar said.

Without a word, the Dark-type in question drew out a hard drive and three flash drives.

"Okay, then we need to find a way to get everyone out of here." The Jolteon stated.

"Hang on, what's the rush with leaving?" The Sea Weasel Pokémon questioned. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Oscar… You wouldn't want to know." Nathan replied for the Electric-type as he drew one more bow and fired it at a Skiploom in a tower.

" _This feeling…_ " Angel thought to herself as Taryn took the drives. " _What is it…? It's a little nostalgic…_ "

"Hah!"

A Braviary parried a strike from a Rhydon and sent him back with a Steel Wing, before shooting the dazed Rock-type with his bow.

Another Braviary managed to K.O. a Geodude with a 7.62mm round to the head. He then jumped up to dodge a Spark from an Electrike.

The Electric-type was instantly knocked out by the force of an axe charged with a Crush Claw from another of the Flying-types.

After a moment, only about forty soldiers were left on one side of the courtyard with the eagles and the Resistance team on the other.

"Oh, shit." Taryn suddenly stated, gaining everyone's attention.

"Why, what is it?" One of the Braviary questioned.

"…Uh, I think we can go forget those guys and run for everything we care about?" The Jolteon asked nervously, showing plenty of anxiousness in her voice.

"Taryn? What's wrong?"

"Oh no… I just remembered." The owl archer said.

"What is it?" The leader Braviary questioned.

"GrrrrrRRRRAAAAAGH!"

The loud, bloodthirsty shout roared out into the desert. Everyone on the field- Resistance, Periculum, and mercenary alike all turned to the source of the noise-

Inside the base.

Winged gijinkas in tribal uniforms wielding spears, axes, hammers, maces, clubs, swords, and bows all presented themselves. A dark purplish aura could be _seen_ enveloping them, and a purple glint was in all of their eyes. Blood soaked their weapons and their bodies, but not their own. It was that of the fallen soldiers in the hallway everyone came from.

"Wha—Who the hell let the test subjects escape!?"

"Even if we survive this, the President will have our heads!"

"Idiots! Which one of you did it!?"

One, two, four, eight more Periculum Pokémon were slaughtered right before everyone's eyes. The soldiers still standing all began throwing their attacks, but two of the Sigilyph gijinkas threw up Protect to keep the attacks off.

"Those guys aren't normal…" Nathan remarked.

"Something's off with them." Oscar added.

"They said test subjects…" Samantha gulped.

"Uh…" Taryn froze up in place at the sight of a bunch of ancient guardians brutally and violently murdering everything their eyes met.

"AHH! HELP US!" a Heracross gijinka screamed.

"H-Hey, don't stop shooting!" One of the guards ordered.

"I'm all out of Arceus-damned ammo!"

The Sigilyph had bullets and arrows dug into their skin, with other burn marks and injuries from the many attacks thrown at them. However…

"Ugugu… GUUUUUAAAAAAHHH!"

The Sigilyph all unleashed a large amount of special attacks from Icy Winds, Heat Waves, Air Slashes, Energy Balls, Ancientpowers, Shadow Balls, Charge Beams, and Psywaves.

With an almighty crash, half of all the soldiers there were killed, knocked out, or literally knocked out to the desert.

"I don't like the look of that." One of the Braviary said.

"Something's wrong here…" Another Braviary said.

"They aren't normal…" Nathan mumbled. A certain Absol widened her eyes in recognition as she looked to the sky where the Sigilyph gijinka had all taken off, having almost finished off the Periculum forces.

"Shadow Pokémon!" Angel yelled as she took her broadsword in both hands and leapt forward.

Wordlessly, the Psychic- and Flying-types all rushed to face her in battle.

"She'll be overrun by those things if we don't help!" A Braviary cried out.

With a battle cry, the birds all took to the skies and engaged the Sigilyph.

What ensued was brutal. Despite the hits the Braviary were landing, the ones they received were worse. The Shadow Sigilyph didn't seem to mind their injuries and relentlessly attacked the eagles.

One of the Braviary fell to the ground with blood dripping from his wing from a wound dealt by an axe.

"Kill." One of the Sigilyph said as it rushed down towards the defeated eagle and launched a Psybeam. Nathan gasped and leapt up to take the hit, but screamed in agony from the force of the attack. The Sigilyph didn't stop its Psybeam and continued to shoot Nathan down with a powerful Psybeam.

"Stop!" Samantha yelled as she countered the move with her own Psybeam.

"Dammit… The files weren't kidding…" Nathan said as he felt the world around him spin.

Meanwhile, Angel was already clashing swords with two other Sigilyph. The ancient gijinkas were utterly devoid of any emotion, and were focused entirely on trying to _murder_ the Dark-type.

"You can't kill me…" Angel mused as she then twirled to dodge the sudden rush from a spear-wielding Sigilyph from behind, causing the three to strike one another instead.

The Dark-type fell to one of the Braviary.

"You can't fly- use us for leverage!" The Braviary she was riding said. The Absol nodded and leapt off of him, taking one Shadow Pokémon down with a quick strike from her blade. The Absol turned around to block a hit from one Psychic- and Flying- type wielding an axe.

Angel gave an extra push to launch herself backwards and fire an Ice Beam onto the opponent.

"Taryn!" Oscar said. The Jolteon nodded and leapt onto Oscar's raised spear to jump up higher. The Jolteon landed on one of the Braviary, and quickly shot a Shadow Ball to keep away a chasing Sigilyph.

A Signal Beam nearly hit her as another Sigilyph gave chase. Taryn jumped off and let loose a Thunderbolt, causing three Sigilyph to go down.

Back on the ground, Samantha watched the three Sigilyph struggled to get up. They were all giving her mean looks.

"Kill…"

"Destroy…"

Fear etched itself onto the Fire-type's face as the Sigilyph refused to go down. They slowly stood up, only to be met with a large boulder for their efforts.

"Hey, we've got to do something!" The Floatzel exclaimed. "We're going to get owned like this!"

"U-Uh, right!" Samantha yelled. The Braixen snapped out of her trance and gulped as she began shooting Shock Waves into the sky.

"GAH!" A Braviary screamed as he was hit with a Charge Beam from one of the Shadow Pokémon. Two more Braviary swooped in for an Aerial Ace but their attack was impeded by one of the Sigilyph using Icy Wind to slow them down.

The two eagle Pokémon screamed in pain from the super-effective attack and were quickly shot down by a Heat Wave let out by four Sigilyph at once. Those four were protected by other Sigilyph fighting the other eagles.

"Oh, SHIT!" Taryn yelled as one of the Sigilyph gijinkas got in front of her and fired an Energy Ball at point-blank distance. The Jolteon screamed in pain and was pelted by a barrage of Energy Balls, Shadow Balls, then an Air Cutter attack.

The falling Jolteon landed on her Floatzel companion, knocking both down.

"Dammit!" Oscar said as he gave Taryn a Potion before standing up and shooting Water Pulses at the enemies overhead.

"Ungh-" Angel grunted as a large amount of Sigilyph cornered her in the air and all tried to strike her down. The Absol blocked most of them and even parried a few, but each time she'd retaliate, she would be marked by a different weapon.

"The merc!" One of the Braviary gijinka said.

"We have to assist her. Ranged attackers, fire!" The leader Braviary commanded. A portion of their squadron began shooting arrows and bullets of different sizes at the enemy. However, while the Sigilyph bled, only six from the eighteen attacking Angel fell to the ground.

"Why the hell are they focusing only on her?" One of the eagles quizzed.

"No clue, just keep shooting!"

Nathan groaned and slowly came to, but still looked to be in bad condition. Taryn was looking worse off, having been pelted by attack after attack. Her jacket was scratched and torn in some places, burn marks coated her entire body, and her expression displayed pure agony.

"Just rest up, you two… Samantha and I will help out the others in the air." Oscar said reassuringly as he turned a fierce gaze to the sky.

"Not if we kill you first…" The four, except Taryn turned to see six Sigilyph coated in bullet holes, arrows, and blood slowly get up and twitch. As they convulsed, bullets and arrows fell from their bodies along with a pool of blood that formed at their feet.

"You will die." One of the Psychic-types said as it blew an Icy Wind at the four.

"You'll be the first…" One of the Sigilyph mused.

"It isn't smart trying to kill just me first, you know…" Angel replied as she blocked each hit. The Absol spun a little, letting herself get hit by a couple of slashes, but leapt onto one of the Sigilyph to escape the horde attacking her.

The Absol pulled out a Semtex grenade and pulled the pin before flinging it down onto the Sigilyph. The Shadow gijinkas spread out, but were too slow as about half of them were blasted by the explosion. Eight of them fell down to the ground unmoving.

"Bring it." Angel mused as she began falling. One Sigilyph fired a Charge Beam at her, while another shot an Energy Ball.

"Oh no, you don't!" A Braviary blocked the Energy Ball by taking the hit with his armor combined with type-resistance. However, the move still did visible damage to the eagle.

"Get out of our way." One Shadow Sigilyph said as it struck him with a Charge Beam, followed by another using Psybeam. The Braviary screamed in agony and fell to the ground.

"No!" One of the Braviary shouted.

"Eagles! Attack them! Bruce, Chuck, check on Theo!" The leader ordered as he flew towards the Shadow gijinkas attacking Angel. Two of the Braviary nodded and flew down to their fallen ally, only to get hit by a Heat Wave sent their way by one of the grounded Sigilyph attacking the main cast.

"What the hell, I thought we killed these things!" Chuck shouted as he shot the attacker with a rifle loaded with 7.62 rounds.

"Same here." The other Braviary mused as he flew down to the fallen Flying-type.

"Oh, you're just in time." Oscar commented as he shot a Water Pulse at one of the Sigilyph. "These guys just don't know when to give up!" the Floatzel charged forward and struck one upside the head with a Liquidation attack.

"We've got our own wounded here too!" Samantha exclaimed as she shot a Shock Wave at a Sigilyph right as Oscar backed off.

Nathan and Taryn were both practically out cold, while the other Braviary, Theo, was looking worse for wear.

"Dammit." Bruce said.

Back in the air, Angel froze two of the Sigilyph with an Ice Beam. Before they defrosted, she swung her sword through their centers, slicing both of them in half.

The Absol narrowed her eyes as a barrage of sharp blades of wind struck her from behind. She turned and fired a Shadow Ball, which knocked out one of the Sigilyph.

"Fall!" One of the Sigilyph said as it let loose an Energy Ball at Angel. The Absol sliced clean through the orb with her blade and twirled to strike at one of the Sigilyph trying to stab its spear into her.

A Braviary struck down one of the Sigilyph with his sword and backed away to evade a Charge Beam thrown at him.

"Don't be afraid to kill them, men, or they will kill us!" The leader roared as he sped forward with an Aerial Ace move, knocking five Sigilyph back.

"The heads! Aim for the heads!" One of the Braviary shouted as he shot an arrow right into one of the Sigilyph's faces.

The fighting kept on for what felt like hours both on the ground and up above. Meanwhile, the last few Periculum Pokémon- numbering four- a Vibrava, Timburr, Aron, and Numel all hide within the shadows of the base.

"H-Hey man, if those guys are out, then…"

"…We gotta get the fuck out of here."

"The emergency chopper!" The Vibrava exclaimed. "If we run, we might still make it out of here alive!"

"If we report our situation, surely it will benefit Periculum."

The four Periculum Pokémon resolved to get out alive, but had to deal with crossing a courtyard first.

A courtyard where two Braviary, a Braixen, and a Floatzel were fighting valiantly against seven Sigilyph that looked like they could die at any moment from the numerous wounds on their bodies.

Eventually, the Braviary lost the advantage and were being overpowered by the Sigilyph, who had turned more of their attention to the birds shooting them down.

"They're too strong!" One of the Braviary said.

"We can't keep this up much longer!"

True to their words, the Braviary were covered in head to toe with new bruises and injuries, some barely managing to fly and a fifth of the squad already down on the ground. Their wounds were all catching up despite the adrenaline, and it didn't look like the Resistance would be resisting any more than a few more minutes.

Angel, on the other hand, was still fighting. She had been hit about six times while smaller marks presented themselves on her, but she was otherwise fine.

The Absol fired off multiple Ice Beams to impede their progress.

"You can't fight like that. You need to land." She ordered as she sliced through a Shadow Ball sent at her.

"She… Has a point." The leader Braviary stated as he examined his men, then his own wounds. " _It's been very long since I've suffered from injuries like this. But this is different._ " The eagle thought. "Men, descend! We fight them on the ground!"

"Aye, sir!"

"Roger that, sir!"

" _That merc… She's something else._ " The leader thought as he watched her parry a pair of blows from a katana and a cutlass. " _She can fight in the air against brutal beasts like that… Without breaking a sweat and only taking a few hits._ "

"Hmph."

Another Night Slash managed to knock out one more Sigilyph. For good measure, the Absol shot a Shadow Ball at him before turning her attention to the bowman shooting at her.

With a Double Team, she evaded the shot and made each clone prepare either Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, or Night Slash.

" _And she can even pull off tricks like that… To make individual Double Team clones to perform separate actions from the puppet master._ "

"Ice Beam!" Angel's voice shouted as a beam of ultracold energy split into more beams and struck majority of the Sigilyph down. Before they could react, Angel appeared from a rooftop and shot more Ice Beams at the Shadow Pokémon, freezing them all. The Absol landed on the ground, and took a deep breath.

"Thanks, merc." One of the Braviary said. The sound of a helicopter fleeing the scene made itself known to the Resistance Pokémon. The group all turned to see a cargo chopper flying away.

"Damn them!"

"We'll deal with them later… For now, we need to treat our wounds and see what to do about these frozen bastards."

"Wait, some of them know Heat Wave…" Samantha said. As one Sigilyph began charging an orb of fire in front of its face, it was blasted by a Shadow Ball followed by an Ice Beam.

"Not all Fire-type moves can be used when you're frozen." Angel remarked as she landed cooly before them.

"Ugh… Is it really over?" Samantha asked.

"…" Angel wordlessly approached each Sigilyph. With each body, she ran her blade at full force into the chests and heads, pulling out the broadsword with cold blood every time she would finish.

"For good measure…"

"Wait, merc, try to keep one alive. We might find it useful to have a captured Shadow Pokémon."

" _They know… So they were paying attention._ " The Absol thought to herself as she gave her simple nod of a reply. She eyed the Resistance Pokémon with an unreadable expression before looking over the Sigilyph.

She stabbed a few more heads before finally kicking two of the frozen Shadow Pokémon away from the rest.

"They're the only ones who don't know Heat Wave or those I did not stab prior."

"Thank you."

"G-Gh…" Taryn's grunts were nearly inaudible. The girl coughed out blood.

"Taryn, save it… We're alright now."

"N-Ngeh…" The Jolteon shakes her head in protest, but Oscar replies with a smile down at her.

"Everything's cool now. I'm pretty sure the others are just headed over here to pick us up."

"N-No…" Nathan said, fighting back the amount of pain, gaining everyone's attention. "T-The… Ther…"

"Nathan… Please, don't force yourself."

"Shaw. It's an order that you recuperate." The leader Braviary added. "Can't have my archer trainer die off, can we?" The Flying-type said with a light chuckle.

In the banter, the Pokémon had all failed to notice that the temperature was going up very, agonizingly slowly. But it was just enough for one to notice.

" _Wait… This is… Something much more-_ "

Angel was snapped out of her thoughts as the ground began to tremble, surprising all the gijinkas there. The temperature rose further, going higher than that of any normal desert, and a malevolent aura filled all living creatures nearby with a sense of immense dread.

A massive fireball burning like the sun appeared from a large gate in a rooftop. A large blast of incredibly hot flames surged from the fireball towards the defrosting Sigilyph.

The Shadow Pokémon attempted to stand. However, a massive flame consumed everything around them. Once it had died down, the results were clear to the Resistance.

Not a single trace of the Sigilyph remained- everything was burned up.

Slowly, the fireball began to dissipate, revealing a gijinka with closed eyes hovering over the burnt roof.

From the torched opening came a Pokémon dressed in a white shirt, a sky blue long skirt, and strange white collars around her. The Pokémon bore six wings- three on each side, colored in orange, giving her the appearance of a sun. The girl twirled and danced, making the temperature rise.

The girl opened her segmented blue eyes. The eyes glinted purple, and the Volcarona opened her mouth to speak.

"Urgh…" A groan escaped her lips as a dark, mortifying aura enveloped her. "D… Di… D-D… D-D-Di…"

"You have got to be fucking kidding me…" Oscar said.

"DIE!" The girl screamed as another Fire Blast erupted from her body. The unfocused attack completely burned one sector of the outpost, sending that side of the building to its fiery demise.

"Gr…" Angel grunted as she drew her blade once more. "You're very free to try and help."

With that, the Absol cut a string holding up one of the scout towers. She used the fallen structure for leverage to get onto the rooftops and face against the Shadow Volcarona.

"We… Tried to… Warn you." Nathan said lowly as his eyes now looked to the Volcarona who would otherwise stun them with beauty rather than power.

"Shit… Boss, what do we do!?" One Braviary exclaimed.

"I know what we're going to do!" Oscar also shouted as he headed up the rooftop through the scout tower.

"T-That thing's a Shadow Pokémon too… But I'm pretty sure it doesn't have any good moves for types like mine!" Samantha added as she too followed the Floatzel up to where the Dark-type mercenary was preparing to fight against a literal fireball.

"That thing… It's got more power than those damned Guardians…" The leader Braviary mumbled as he stared at the Volcarona- from years of experience, one could estimate another's strength with just a look.

And he didn't need the shadowy aura, high temperature, and bloodthirsty gaze to see how powerful she was.

 **[Boss – Shadow Volcarona]**

"Burn…" The Volcarona said quietly as she began flap her wings in a dance. As she did this, flames erupted from her body, threatening to strike down whatever they hit.

Water Pulse, Shadow Ball, and Psybeam kept a few of the fireballs away, while the rest were dodged in openings their moves made.

Angel leapt up and got a slash into the Volcarona's leg with her broadsword, but was immediately met with a kick to the Absol's back. The Dark-type twirled mid-fall and landed on her feet. She then took a battle stance, displaying no feeling towards the kick.

"Toxic!" Samantha yelled as she fired a few purple clouds of poison at the Bug-type. The Volcarona dodged a two of them before getting hit with another. However, she didn't recoil and instead charged a flame coated in a visible, dark purple aura. She launched it at the Resistance trio.

"This one won't be very effective…" Oscar stated with brimming confidence.

"Yeah, and that's way too big to dodge." Samantha remarked as she steeled herself.

The instant the flame touched them, the duo screamed in pure agony as the shadowy aura razed them.

"Holy hell…" One of the Braviary down below remarked.

"That's not a normal Pokémon move…"

Angel responded with a Shadow Ball, which the Fire- and Bug-type easily evaded.

She retaliated with a Silver Wind, also dodged by the Absol.

The Absol pulled out a medium-sized white gem and tossed it into the air. The gem exploded into a rather large Protect that covered the three and at least two meters around them.

"What the hell was that…?" The Water-type lancer asked as he shakily got back on his feet.

"Shadow Fire." Angel replied.

"Oh, that's right…" Samantha said. "Shadow moves are super-effective against all types of Pokémon…" The Braixen remarked. A noise from behind caught their attention.

The Shadow Volcarona girl threw strange silk at the Protect, causing it to melt as if an acid were eating away at it. With a glare, the Volcarona began charging another Shadow Fire.

" _Shadow Shed_." Angel mused internally.

The mercenary stood up and prepared to jump towards the attacker before she could let loose another Shadow Fire.

Down on the ground, Eagle Squadron was watching with mixed expressions betraying worry, interest, and indifference. Nathan and Taryn struggled to get up, looking towards the battle on the rooftop.

"W-We've… Got to do something!" Taryn tried. " _Please, get up!_ " The Jolteon's inner protests fell on unresponsive muscles.

"I… can't aim properly…" The Decidueye added as he tried to pull an arrow back on his hoodie string, but found that he was unfocused and still suffering mild confusion effects from the Psybeam earlier.

Up above, a Stored Power connected with the Volcarona. Unfortunately, the move did little to impede a Silver Wind sent to a certain Floatzel.

"Oh, fuck off!" The Water-type exclaimed as he managed to throw a Rock Tomb right before the move connected.

However, the rock was burned down by another Fire Blast.

"N-No way…" Samantha gulped before shooting a Shock Wave at the Shadow Volcarona, which only served to anger the enemy further.

"Haaaahh!"

A Night Slash cut through the Volcarona's midsection, forcing the Pokémon back. Before Angel could react, the Volcarona grabbed her and sent a roundhouse kick to the Dark-type's torso.

Angel staggered back but immediately sent plenty of fast strikes with her sword at the Volcarona, who sidestepped and jumped to dodge.

"Water Pulse!" The two fighters backed away to dodge the stray Water Pulse and arrow that followed. Samantha and Oscar both turned to the source of the second projectile to see Nathan trying to shoot the Volcarona.

Along with him, the other eagles with ranged weapons were taking aim for the opponent. Taryn had managed to stand up, but she looked more like she would fall down if she tried to move any further.

"AaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHH!"

The Resistance's attention was returned to the girl shooting off plenty of embers in another passionate dance with her wings. Samantha and Oscar, without having much time to react, grunted as the flames licked at their bodies.

Immediately, Angel shot a Shadow Ball at the Volcarona who only cancelled the move with a reflex shot Fire Blast.

With dark energy in her sword, the Absol rushed forward. The Sun Pokémon gijinka let out a yell before charging Angel as well whilst cloaked in a bright orange and blue flame.

The impact of the collision sent shock waves surging throughout the whole area, followed by a strong gust of wind that knocked away some of the sand.

"Urg… There's no way in hell we're competing with that!" Oscar said as he and Samantha could do not much else but observe the fierce battle.

It seemed that the Volcarona was an even match at first glance, but after watching them, one could tell that Angel was slowly adapting to her opponent.

"Urgh…"

The Absol sighed internally as she spared a glance at all her allies waiting for the opportunity to shoot. The Volcarona before her began charging a Shadow Fire, leaving her open for attack.

" _Hmph._ "

The Absol backed away quiickly, prompting a Psybeam, Water Pulse, and quite a few large bullets and arrows to sink themselves into the Volcarona's body.

Despite the damage, the girl showed no signs of being affected by the numerous wounds on her body and shot the attack at Angel.

Surprisingly, the move traveled much faster than anticipated, giving the Dark-type no chance to dodge.

"ANGEL!"

The Volcarona panted as the large flame burned the spot where the Absol in question once stood. With a demonic grin, she began to laugh now that her opponent had been obliterated.

"…"

The flames all vanished at the swing of a bronze blade.

"No way…" One of the Braviary said.

"She just withstood a Shadow move without much damage?"

"Th-That's…"

Angel grunted as she grasped her shoulder with her free hand but shook off the pain and rushed forward with a Night Slash, catching the Boss Pokémon off guard.

"Agh!"

The girl screamed in pain as her wounds finally began to catch up to her. However, she shot a Fire Blast at Angel before performing another Fiery Dance.

"Shit, she isn't-"

With fluid movements, Angel managed to dodge the initial flame, and swung away the rest with her blade, being sure to put herself in the way of smaller flames rather than larger ones.

"Damn, I heard she was good... But I wasn't thinking she'd be THAT good." One Braviary remarked.

"Die, die, die, die, die, die!" The Volcarona screamed almost desparately as she shot a Silver Wind, impeding Angel's advance.

The Dark-type fell to the roof with a grunt but quickly got back up and rolled out of the way of a Flare Blitz.

"Hey, leave some for us!"

Oscar's Water Pulse put out the Volcarona's attack as she was circling around for another. The target was dazed for just a moment, allowing the Braixen to shoot a Shock Wave, followed by a Flamethrower at the enemy.

"Gah!"

Ice Beam then struck the Volcarona, causing her to fall to the courtyard below.

"Heh, looks like our turn now, eh boss?"

"Even being a Shadow Pokémon doesn't make you completely immune to pain." The leader Braviary stated. "Attack!"

The girl looked up and yelled out before shooting a Shadow Fire at the approaching eagles, sending them all back to a chain link fence.

"AGH!"

Each hit bird didn't get back up, but fortunately all were still visibly breathing.

"Why you-"

The leader approached with an Aerial Ace, which connected with the Volcarona's shoulder.

With a cry of agony, the girl was sent flying to the opposite side of the courtyard.

When she opened her eyes, she widened them just as fast as soon as she saw the edge of Angel's sword pointed right at her.

"No… NO!"

A powerful shockwave sent the mercenary back. In the next instant, the Sun Pokémon flew back up despite the pain and prepared a massive Shadow Fire.

"How can she still fly after all that!?" Samantha exclaimed before shooting a Psybeam at the girl in question.

"Take this!"

Oscar managed to get up close for a Liquidation, but this time the girl twirled to dodge it before grabbing hold of the Floatzel and shooting a Fire Blast into his face at point blank distance.

Without a word, Oscar fell to the ground in a heap.

"OSCAR!"

"Urgh…" Angel grunted before jumping up and sending another series of Night Slashes at the girl.

"Oscar!" Taryn crumbled as she tried to walk over to her fallen friend. Instead of trying to stand back up, she crawled closer to the badly injured Floatzel.

"Os… Car!"

"Oh shit…" The leader Braviary shot up at hearing the sound of jet fuel being burned in the sky. He pulled out his cellphone- a Nokia 3310 and dialed a set of numbers.

"Uh-oh."

Samantha was blasted away by another Shadow Fire, sending the girl down to the sandy courtyard screaming in pain.

Now, it was a one-on-one situation between Angel and the Shadow Volcarona. Both had sustained some damage, with the Sun Pokémon having suffered infinitely more damage as opposed to the Absol who only seemed like she was warming up, at least based on her physical condition.

"AaaaaAAAAAAAGGHH!"

With a roar of fury, the Fire- and Bug-type charged Angel with Flare Blitz once more. The air around her seemed to be distorted from the shadowy aura projected by the girl.

The Absol mercenary stood still. She stood yet still as the Volcarona charged more power as she picked up speed and headed for Angel.

Finally, the Dark-type sidestepped, causing the Volcarona to miss her by a silver of a distance. The white gijinka brought down a sword coated in dark energy down onto the attacker's back, sending her tumbling down to the ground below.

"Is it over…?" The Braixen gijinka asked as she steadily climbed down the scout tower she, Oscar, and Angel used to get up to the rooftops.

"…For now." Angel replied as she simply leapt down and dusted her jacket off.

The girl was bruised and torn, but still breathing. In the distance, the roar of aircraft engines could be heard.

"No… That's…"

"We need to get out of here, and fast." Samantha said. The sound of jet engines was drawing nearer.

"Dammit!" The leader Braviary exclaimed. "I can't get in to HQ."

"T-Then… How the hell are we going to get out of here with everyone?"

"…They should have a truck in the garage." Angel suddenly stated before running off into the base, ignoring the few flames that still burned brightly.

"That girl… She's something else." One of the few Braviary who wasn't knocked out said as he relaxed and let his SCAR-H droop down to the floor.

"To be able to keep back those Sigilyph and still take on a shadow Volcarona and its Shadow moves displays her exceptional strength." The leader Braviary commented followed by a cough of blood.

"Leader…"

"Don't worry about me, worry about yourself."

An explosion destroyed the walls around them, as a large truck came into view. A certain Absol hopped off the driver's seat and walked closer.

"Hurry up. We don't have much time." True to her word, the sound of jets roaring filled the sky.

* * *

Shortly after the Resistance left, the jets were soaring around the skies as a helicopter landed on the helipad on the rooftop of the destroyed outpost.

The door opened, and a figure followed by others in black suites stepped out of the helicopter while half of the jets up above entered into their hover mode.

"Come." A young woman's voice ordered. She walked over to the battered body of the Volcarona, ignoring the amount of sand being flung everywhere by the rotating blades of the helicopter.

Light gray tights with white sports shoes did little to hide the slender legs that approached the fallen Shadow Pokémon.

"Take her in. She still has a great use to us."

"As you wish."

Two of them- a Machamp and an Alakazam- both picked up the Volcarona with the Machamp carrying her and the Alakazam restraining any movement. Despite this, the Sun Pokémon struggled to break free, to emit flames from her body and torch everything.

"Now, now… You may not have held your own, but you'll still be useful to us." The girl stated with a foreboding chuckle before loading her into the helicopter with the two guards first, then her followers, then finally, herself.

"M'lady… What shall we do about the rest of the base?" A Gible gijinka queried.

"Feel free to scan its contents and for anything we might be able to use. But in three hours, I want this place's existence to be removed. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, m'lady." The Dragon- and Ground-type gijinka bowed.

"Lady F, what of the escaping truck? I've confirmed that it's the Resistance. They possibly left the girl here when they realized that she wouldn't fit without kicking off one of their own." A Sudowoodo gijinka questioned, bowing before the girl.

"...Leave them be for now. Instead, I want you to contact the escaped chopper that left the compound. I have some questions I'd like to _personally_ ask them."

"Y-Yes, my lady..." The Rock-type stated fearfully before bowing once more and hurrying off to the other soldiers who had gathered in the courtyard.

Once the helicopter containing the commanding authority left, the Gible raised his head and watched four more helicopters arrive on the scene.

* * *

Back at the Northeast Resistance HQ, the Eagle Squadron along with the main cast were getting their wounds fixed and their injuries treated. Angel, however, declined the nurses and doctors offers to treat her. The Absol stated that she was fine and would not require healing of any form. After a short and one-sided argument, the doctors and nurses, along with Audrey and Ethan agreed to let Angel be.

In the Northeastern headquarters of the Resistance, things were much busier. More so than after the generator mission in the city a ways north.

The clinics were filled with the entirety of the Pokémon that went off to the outpost- Eagle Squadron and the main cast.

Fortunately, while the injuries were severe, none were life-threatening or crippling. Within days, the Pokémon were back in tip-top-shape, and the Resistance got around to finishing the file examination for what they had brought back.

"So, here we are again." Audrey mused. Her antennae swayed lightly as if there were a faint breeze.

Next to her, Matt Reverdin was scanning through the last few files after having organized everything and read through half of it with the Durant next to him and the General of the Resistance.

Along with them were the main cast plus Ethan, each looking bored out of their minds.

"I still think Periculum might get some love if they decided to use gaming setups for their computers." Oscar said with a chuckle.

"More info on Project S. Taryn, your cue." Audrey said. The Jolteon nodded and began to read through the document aloud.

* * *

 _ **UPDATE (9/24/2017):**_ _Yeah, I'm fully aware that I'm late by two days. I deeply apologize for that, I've been kept by… Recent events. Oh, it's nothing worrying, just… I mean events in the sense of dumb and derpy things or slightly busying things. Not really anything serious._

 _But, I have this chapter done! I'll get to work on Chapter four's re-write as well as five. This chapter, I realized, is the length of two ordinary chapters. About 12K words for this one, and I was like "Are?"_

 _You may have noticed how much different the infiltration and battle scenes are in comparison to the previous version of this chapter. Don't worry, it doesn't affect the story flow too much- just makes things a lot more accurate and clear, actually._

 _For those of you who are still here and reading, I give you the sincerest of gratitudes. You have no idea how much I appreciate that somebody still reads this. Erm… I'm no good with things like this, so I guess I'll just cut it out here._

 _If you have anything you'd like to say, speak your mind or forever hold your peace, I guess._

 _A'ight, Shade out._


	4. C4 - To the Center

Shadows in War, Segment 1, Chapter 4 – To the Center

* * *

 ** _DISCLAIMER_** : _I still have nothing to do with Game Freak or Nintendo, or Pokémon, which is their property._

* * *

"This was updated about a month ago." Taryn stated and cleared her throat. "Here goes… Project S is nearly perfected, and an estimate of around seven thousand Pokémon have been converted into Shadow Pokémon."

"T-That's…"

"Well, it was nice knowing Driasia." The Electric-type on the chair gave the Floatzel speaker a mean glare, followed by a fist that was just sparking with electricity.

Matt caught everyone's attention with a wave of his hand. Once that was done, he pointed at the screen.

"Project T… It looks like we've got more trouble, guys." The yellow gijinka stated. "Now that their dumb Shadow Project is almost finished, they're starting a new one. Ahem… Unlike Project S, we shall not be converting Pokémon into more powerful, soulless, obedient warriors- no, we intend to bring into existence new life through scientific means. Life meant to take life, life that will endure, life that will destroy… Pokémon built to defeat and adapt to any opponent on the field."

"T-They're going to CREATE a Pokémon in a test tube or something like that?" Audrey exclaimed. Her expression betrayed plenty of fear and anxiety at the thought of Pokémon with powers that could potentially send even the Legendary Pokémon to their knees.

"No way…" Nathan said.

" _True. Project T is still new- I am sure that their main focus will still be on Project S. And besides... Our main objective should be to capture a live Shadow Pokémon- especially the escapee._ "

"Hm." Audrey pondered.

"Wait, where did Angel go?" Oscar asked. Everyone looked around to find that the mercenary was missing.

"Probably got bored of waiting… She shouldn't be leaving the compound anyway." Audrey said. Matt waved again and pointed at the screen.

" _The missing Shadow Pokémon- do we have any ideas on where to find it?_ "

"Yeah, if there's a brutal killer Pokémon out there, it should have been found by now…" Oscar mumbled.

"Do we even know if Periculum caught them yet?" Nathan queried. Matt nodded and pointed at a newly opened file on the screen.

"A letter?" Taryn asked. Matt shook his head and highlighted a few words in the letter.

"…No, we still have not found Subject A. Subject F, however, serves us well." Audrey breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why are they 'A' and 'F' and not some other generic name?" Taryn asked.

"No clue."

"This would be easier if we had the actual Shadow Pokémon to try." Audrey mused. "Ethan said that we're all looking for that, but…"

Silence fell onto the group as they let their thoughts run along with the topic.

"Wait, what if the escapee isn't as violent as the others?" Nathan said, gaining everyone's attention. "Think about it- they can strategize and think straight. While the doors to their hearts are closed and they desire to hurt others, don't you think they'd be trying to evade Periculum? I doubt they would go through all that trouble just to make them mad."

"So that means…" Oscar trailed off.

"The escapee is blending in with the crowd." Taryn and Audrey both said.

"There's only one way to find a hidden Pokémon in an entire nation…" The Durant gijinka trailed off. "Matt, you know the drill." She said as she walked towards the door. The Psychic-type cat nodded and began typing away at the keyboard.

"Where are you off to?" The Water-type Oscar queried.

"To report this to Ethan. He'll devise something, if not the other leaders." Audrey said as she exited the room.

"Well, now we're getting somewhere." The Braixen said. The door opened to reveal Angel walking in.

"What were you up to?" Taryn asked.

"Simply getting a little water." The Dark-type replied. "Am I needed at the moment?"

"Well, uh, no…" Taryn replied. "But we've found out other creepy things in Periculum's dungeons…"

"They're creating new Pokémon in something called Project T." Samantha said.

"Hey, Angel, I wanted to ask something…" Taryn said. The Absol gave her a mildly questioning look. "How did you withstand those Shadow moves so easily?"

"That's right… You got blasted by that Shadow Fire thing, didn't you?" Oscar added.

"How exactly did it feel?"

The Absol paused in thought.

"It was… Extremely painful. Just about as much pain from a strike of a Terrakion's Close Combat, or a Xerneas' Moonblast… But nothing more." The Dark-type said. Her dull tone betrayed no emotion whatsoever, and it almost seemed like she didn't care about how powerful the attack was against her.

"Hm, weird… But cool." Samantha said. "I'm not saying you'll be our meat shield in a Shadow Pokémon battle, though!"

Matt snuck a glance at the merry group while searching through the USBs and reading through many files.

" _I'll check the footage later… Dark-type Pokémon being the only resistant type to Shadow moves is interesting, but cliché. And besides, Shadow-type moves are supposed to be super-effective on_ everything _, right?_ " Matt thought silently. " _Now let's see… With this information, I'm predicting a new mission for them… Or for a different team._ " Matt clicked on a program which opened up a video.

Live action of a large-scale battle south of their current location.

Periculum Pokémon and Resistance Pokémon were taking potshots at one another with ranged moves, guns, arrows, and mortars. Neither side was letting up and both were evenly matched.

" _So they have a purple glint in their eyes, a dark purplish aura, and the details provided by Eagle Squadron make it clearer… Thankfully no Shadow Pokémon are in that battle…_ " Matt thought as he watched a Resistance Pachirisu gijinka launch a Thunder attack at a group of Periculum soldiers. " _We'll probably have a mission to retrieve a Shadow Pokémon for ourselves… Having one with us will help us distinguish between a normal and a shadow._ "

"Hey, what's this?" Taryn queried as she leaned on Matt's chair. The Psychic-type looked up from his work. He quickly typed a few things on a small-windowed notepad.

" _Live right now. The battle in the East. Periculum's been busy._ "

"It doesn't seem so intense from where we are." Nathan remarked.

" _Why don't we switch this?_ " Matt thought to himself and clicked on an arrow at the top right of the video window.

The next one displayed two Pokémon sitting in a tent and eating sandwiches. One was a boy wearing a closed green leather jacket with matching green jeans. A red zigzag pattern adorned the bottom part of the sweater. The Pokémon wore eyeglasses underneath dark green hair with two yellow crest-like locks sticking out on either side of his head.

The other was a girl with a purple collar over a pale yellow blouse and skirt. She wore thigh-high yellow socks and had light purple hair with a few yellow strands that fell to either side of her face. She also wore purple fingerless gloves.

The Kecleon and Delcatty gijinkas both looked outside the tent to see someone land on the ground and close his wings. The Pokémon wore a white t-shirt tucked into black cargo pants. Over the shirt was a black jacket with openings on the sleeves to allow space for his wings. A red tie hung loosely from his neck and his hair was spike backwards with the same color as his jacket and pants. The gijinka took off his Scope Lens and took two steps closer to the other two.

"Found anything?" The Delcatty asked. The Trumbeak shook his head.

"Nope, nothing so far." The Trumbeak replied.

"Hm, well in that case, I'll sneak in later." The Kecleon said and took a sip from the glass he held.

" _They're up to no good in Periculum's eyes._ " Matt cut off the video feed. " _Feel free to do what you want now or ask General Ethan for instructions. I'll keep scanning these files._ "

"Alright. Thanks again, Matt." Oscar said. The Meowstic smiled and waved the team out.

* * *

"Hmph." Angel landed gracefully on the barren battlefield as the robotic Gyarados behind her exploded. Without looking back, she slowly walked forward, letting the explosion surge forward behind her.

" **Oh, now she's just showing off.** " Oscar's voice said. Angel instantly sidestepped to avoid a Flamethrower thrown at her by a Magmortar. The Dark-type rushed at the attacker with her sword, and was quick to evade a Sludge Bomb from a Nidoking.

Angel countered by shooting a Shadow Ball at it, sending the Poison-type reeling back in pain. Right after that, copies of Angel surrounded the Magmortar and Nidoking as the two prepared to shoot more moves.

Every Absol clone rushed the two with swords readied for a sweep, but none of the hits came, leaving an absent Angel. The two Pokémon looked around but widened their eyes with a scream of agony as they fell to the floor.

A large slash wound was on either of their backs, and in between them stood Angel.

" **Nice.** " Samantha's voice said. Angel leapt out of the way of a Focus Blast and looked to a pile of burning rubble to see a Throh running towards her with a Brick Break in his hand.

To the left of the Absol was a Vileplume charging a Solarbeam with a Lunatone and a Hitmontop protecting it. To her right a Fearow was swooping in with Aerial Ace.

Angel narrowed her eyes and shot an Ice Beam at the Fearow. She stepped forward quickly to dodge the Brick Break and elbowed the Throh in the back of the head, knocking him out.

Double Team confused the Vileplume, making it sway the beam of light around the arena, dealing further damage to the Throh and Fearow that were caught in the blast.

Angel launched a Shadow Ball at the Hitmontop as her clones all vanished with the Solarbeam. The Fighting-type staggered back, giving the Absol the perfect opportunity to down the Lunatone and Vileplume with a single Night Slash critical.

When the Hitmontop regained his senses, he stared wide eyed, at the Absol preparing for a heavy swing.

The blade sent the Handstand Pokémon flying back into a pile of dirt in the war-torn wastes.

"I GOT YOU NOW!" A Rampardos shouted as he charged Angel with his head outstretched.

Angel fired an Ice Beam at the Rampardos' feet, causing the Rock-type to trip over. With a loud roar of frustration, the Rampardos desperately struggled to break free.

Angel's ear twitched and the Absol leapt back to narrowly evade a wave of Bug Buzz from a Vikavolt.

A Crabominable gijinka approached from the robo-Gyarados' remains and shot a pair of ice-coated arms at her.

The Ice Hammers made the Absol jump out of the way, but Angel let out a quick grunt as the Rampardos managed to hit her with Flamethrower.

Just as the Vikavolt was about to launch more Bug Buzz waves at the Absol, the target rolled out of the way and ducked underneath the Rampardos, slicing his legs with a Night Slash and then shooting a Shadow Ball at the Vikavolt while using the Rampardos as a meat shield from the Bug Buzz.

"Argh! Damn you!" The Rock-type yelled as he slammed his tail down but missed the Absol completely.

She sidestepped to her right to evade a Hammer Arm from the Crabominable and used another Double Team to escape the Rampardos and Crabominable's Head Smash and Ice Hammer, resulting in the two physical attackers knocking each other out with their moves.

Angel's copies all fired Shadow Balls and Ice Beams at the Vikavolt, causing the Electric-type to howl in agony. The Vikavolt looked up to see Angel stab him in the face with her sword.

" **Merciless.** " Taryn's voice said. More enemies began spawning around her.

On one side were a Malamar and Magcargo. To her left, a Lilligant and an Octillery, to one other end a Scizor, and flying above her were an Unfezant, a Skarmory, and a Crobat.

Angel replied by shooting three quick Ice Beams upwards and rushing the Scizor with a Night Slash. The Scizor blocked with two rapiers and used an X-Scissor to push Angel back.

The Dark-type turned around to see her flying towards a Petal Dance and Hydro Pump while the Malamar was coming at her with a Superpower. The Magcargo shot a Flame Burst at her to mix with Petal Dance and Hydro Pump, while the Skarmory let loose a Flash Cannon.

" _They think that'll work…_ " Angel dropped to the floor to evade the Hydro Pump, rolled out of the way of the Flash Cannon, swung her sword to dissipate the Flame Burst, and sidestepped to throw the Malamar into the Lilligant's Petal Dance.

Angel jabbed her sword upwards, instantly sending the Unfezant back up only to spiral downwards into the ground.

"Who's next?" Angel said with a glare and a glint in her eyes.

"Me, bitch!" The Scizor yelled as he rushed Angel with both his swords crossed like an X.

The Disaster Pokémon gijinka stabbed her sword into the earth and jumped up along her blade to land a critical blow from her ear scythe to the Scizor. The Absol then grabbed him and used him as a shield against the Octillery's Flamethrower.

The Scizor let out a cry of agony before Angel dropped him and launched a barrage of small Shadow Balls at the Magcargo.

The Magcargo tried to shoot Flame Bursts at the Shadow Balls, but got hit by four, one of them landing a critical hit.

The Fire- and Rock-type charged up heat energy and shot a blind Overheat in front of him. Meanwhile, Angel leapt out of the Overheat's path making it torch the Skarmory and Crobat chasing her.

Angel then grabbed the Magcargo by the shell on his back and grunted as the enemy's heat burned her hands. She aimed the Magcargo at the Lilligant who was walking around in a confused daze and then dropped the attacker.

"Damn you!" The Octillery said and shot a Hydro Pump at Angel. The Absol let loose an Ice Beam to slow the attack and leap out of the way. Angel then shot two Shadow Balls at the Water-type, causing it to defend with Bullet Seed.

The Absol rushed at the Water-type but not before taking her sword embedded into the ground. When the Octillery looked up, Angel's blade stabbed right into his face with enough force to send the orange gijinka flying quite a few meters back.

Wordlessly, the girl drew back her sword and examined her surroundings.

The battlefield was littered with rubble piles and corpses. The sky was orange and smoke rose up from the fires spread around.

" **Good luck with this last one.** " Nathan's voice said. The Absol readied for another fight. The ground suddenly shook with heavy footsteps. An Unnerving chill swept through the air and a low growl was heard. Angel turned to see who was coming.

A tall and large man was walking towards her. His footsteps shook the very ground with his weight. Heavy armor colored dark green adorned his body, with a blue piece of lighter armor visible in his midsection. The armor was spiked downwards on both sides at the back, and a powerful and bulky tail was attached to the lower back. The man let out a roar.

"A Tyranitar…" Angel mused.

 **[Boss - Tyranitar]**

"You're gonna be mincemeat!" The Tyranitar yelled as he began exhibiting an overwhelming menace while rushing towards Angel. The Absol sidestepped only to get hit by a deft Aqua Tail that sent her flying back by two meters.

"Did you really think you could dodge ME!?" The Tyranitar shouted as he let loose a powerful Earthquake that made the surrounding area shake.

Angel let out a quick grunt as pain wracked her from the force of the Tyranitar's Aqua Tail. Thankfully enough, she dodged the Earthquake right as the waves of power were about to snag her.

The Tyranitar gijinka roared and formed a dark orb of energy in his maw. A crisscrossing beam of dark energy rushed from the orb and towards Angel, who took the hit without much damage.

"Maybe you shouldn't have been dumb enough to try flinching me with that Dark Pulse." Angel remarked before creating a large amount of Double Team clones. The Tyranitar smirked and leapt into the air to prepare for a full-powered Earthquake.

In an instant, Angel came up behind him and used Night Slash. The attack, although not very-effective, dealt noticeable damage due to a critical hit.

"You're going to pay for that!" The Tyranitar exclaimed as he turned and fired a Flamethrower on the way down to the ground. The pure Dark-type twirled out of the way and quickly got back before Aqua Tail could snag her.

The Absol fired an Ice Beam at the Armor Pokémon, although not much damage was dealt. The Rock-type roared and charged with Dragon Rush. In response, the white gijinka dashed away from the attack to dodge.

The Disaster Pokémon shot a barrage of Shadow Balls and leapt in with another Night Slash. Each move hit the Tyranitar, but still not much effect could be seen.

"My armor is impenetrable! I am a walking fortress!" The Tyranitar proudly stated and blasted Angel away with a Flamethrower, sending her flying back a few meters. Angel glared and froze the Tyranitar's feet with an Ice Beam before charging with her sword.

The Tyranitar laughed and threw a Thunderpunch at Angel. The Absol blocked the hit with her sword. Both Pokémon grunted from the force of their attacks.

Angel took the liberty of parrying the blow and backing off before Flamethrower could hit her. The boss then used the attack to torch his own feet, freeing him of the ice.

The Dark-type mercenary moved in for another strike with her sword, but missed as her target leapt right as she thought the blow would connect. The reflex Earthquake managed to score a hit on her, causing her to grunt in pain and clench her teeth.

Angel looked up to see the Tyranitar rushing in with a Thunderpunch and an Aqua Tail combo. In response, she fired an Ice Beam into the Tyranitar's tail and sidestepped to avoid the Thunderpunch.

"You think that'll work?" The Tyranitar shouted as he defrosted his tail with Flamethrower. The pure Dark-type took the opportunity to land a few blows to the head with her sword, causing the larger Pokémon to grunt. However, Angel was blasted back with a sudden Dark Pulse.

The Rock-type roared and glared her down.

Angel vanished and in her place, Double Team clones of her all glared down the larger opponent.

All of them let loose a massive Ice Beam at the Tyranitar, but to no avail as it was blocked by the Tyranitar's more powerful Flamethrower.

" **You're doing good so far.** " A new voice said. Angel narrowed her eyes as she reappeared amongst the clones and shot a Shadow Ball aimed at the Tyranitar's chest.

The move scored a critical hit, but still not much damage was dealt. The Rock- and Dark-type countered by stomping harshly on the ground several times, creating plenty of Earthquake moves which Angel leapt in rhythm to evade.

Angel then sped forward and sliced at the Tyranitar's leg with her sword and fired a Shadow Ball at his back. The Tyranitar grunted and swung a quick Aqua Tail, which Angel ducked to evade and hopped on the Tyranitar's back as he jumped up for an Earthquake.

"Get off, you runt!" The Tyranitar yelled as he flung himself wildly in midair to get the Absol off.

Angel hung tight and managed to stay on, but not without much trouble. As they were nearing the ground, the Disaster gijinka jumped into the air and examined her opponent.

The Tyranitar fell to the ground and let out a yell of pain as he landed on his side. He slowly tried to rise to his feet, but was blasted by a critical Ice Beam from above.

"You little sneak with your Super Luck!" The Armor Pokémon roared.

Angel wordlessly fell to the Tyranitar and stabbed him in the chest with her sword, causing the enemy to let out a scream of pain.

"Every armor has its weakness." The Absol stated as she drew out the sword quickly and stepped off.

"Argh…" The Tyranitar groaned in pain. However, he got up and let out a roar of fury and charged with another Dragon Rush. Angel jumped up high to dodge, but was hit with a sudden Dark Pulse, followed by a Flamethrower.

The Absol hit the ground and had to roll to dodge a Thunderpunch. The Tyranitar stomped down to use Earthquake, which Angel barely evaded.

"Die, why won't you!?" The Armor Pokémon roared.

The Absol fired a Shadow Ball, then concentrated as she used a weaker Ice Beam to surround the orb of ghostly energy.

The moves fused into one and landed a direct hit on the Tyranitar's exposed torso, eliciting a cry of agony. Angel then moved in with multiple strikes of her sword, before leaping into the air and running her blade into the Tyranitar's head.

The Armor gijinka paused as the blade entered his head. The Disaster Pokémon gijinka twisted the blade like a key before pulling it out and backing off.

The Tyranitar fell to the ground as blood began to pool from his wounds. Suddenly, the entire world around her began to shift. The Absol breathed a deep breath and closed her eyes.

When she reopened them, she found herself in a large, empty room with strange devices on the walls and ceilings.

"Impressive. Nobody's been able to last more than four and a half minutes against that Tyranitar." The new voice remarked.

Angel looked past the glass on one of the walls to see her teammates standing next to a gijinka in a lab coat. His features were flame-like hair covered by what seemed like a ring of white hair, a long brown tail, yellow eyes with blue pupils, and yellow cuff-like designs on his wrists and ankles. The Infernape gijinka clapped.

"You've got some serious talent to be able to take that thing down single-handedly." The lab-coated Fire-type said.

"It was nothing…" Angel remarked as she stepped out of a room through the heavy metal door that opened.

"Bullshit… Hardly any of us in the Resistance could handle that thing for long with all those moves." Oscar mused, eliciting a giggle from Taryn and Samantha.

"Hey, Ajax, what's her exact score?" Nathan queried. Ajax, the Infernape scientist began typing on the keyboard before him.

"Angel's overall score… Is our new highest record." Ajax said. "71,095 points." The Infernape said with awe.

"No way." Taryn said.

"That's incredible…" Samantha mused.

"In what way?" Angel asked.

"The Pokémon who held the previous high score only managed to get 64,923 points. That Tyranitar you just fought ended the battle the moment he stepped on the field." The Fighting-type said. "And that was one member from each of our elite teams in the Resistance, save for the Zero Brigade." Ajax added.

"So in a nutshell, Angel is OP AF." Oscar remarked.

"Yes." The Infernape simply replied. "So, as I said, you have some serious talent, merc." Angel nodded and sheathed her sword before walking away. "You four can go now. It'll be a while before this thing cools down." Ajax said. The other four nodded and followed Angel out.

* * *

"You totally meant to walk away from that explosion in slow-mo." Taryn said.

"Looks don't matter- I'll just get the job done." Angel replied.

"Yeah, right." Nathan replied with a light chuckle. The Absol gave him a knowing glance through her unamused stare.

"Alright guys, ease up and give her a break." Samantha said with a smile.

"Yeah, I could use one too." Oscar said.

"But you were just watching her fight." Nathan commented and phased himself through the hit. The two girls laughed a bit and entered the canteen with the others.

"I hate your Ghost-typing."

* * *

"71,095 points, Captain." Ajax said.

"No freaking way. That Tyranitar gave me enough trouble even with my type advantage." Audrey mused.

"You lot sure picked one hell of a soldier."

"It wasn't my idea, but I'm sure glad that she's on our side." Ajax glanced at the Durant captain for a moment. "The others sure will have a fun time trying to beat that record."

"Now I'm sure you didn't come just to check on the mercenary's score." The Infernape scientist said. "What do you need from me, Captain Audrey?" The Steel-type sighed.

"I need her exact training data."

* * *

"Another mission?" Nathan queried.

"Already?" Taryn said. An Ambipom wearing a flight cap nodded.

"With nearly every team in Driasia working, you're one of the only ones who's open right now." The Normal-type said. "General Ethan already left for the Western Border, and you've all been given orders to move South towards the country's center. I'll be your pilot, again, and we take off in an hour." The Ambipom said.

"Sheesh, alright then." Samantha said.

"Time to pack up everyone." Oscar mused as he walked away, followed by his friends.

"Hey Angel, you should probably do the same." The Jolteon suggested. The Disaster Pokémon in question shook her head in a no response.

As the team was leaving, a few other gijinkas headed over to the Absol standing by herself.

"Damn, wish I had someone like you working with me." The Absol turned to face the speaker- a male Grumpig gijinka. "We sure could use more Pokémon like you."

"…?" Angel raised a brow at that, however the rest of her expression remained as indifferent as ever.

"He's talking about how strong you are. With the whole Shadow Pokémon and Project T things, plus their recent robotic synthetic Pokémon, we really could use all the help we can get." A Quilava gijinka said. "Hey, think you could teach some of us how you learned to fight like that?"

"No." Angel replied.

"Yep, she's as cold as they all say." A Sawk remarked as the Pokémon all shared a chuckle.

" _Hmph… They're the luckier ones… They could choose not to fight._ " Angel thought to herself before leaving the hall after giving a few nods or head shakes to the other Pokémon's questions.

" _Perhaps I'll just wait at the hangar._ " The Dark-type gijinka began walking down the hallways.

Pokémon she passed by were idly chatting, half of the gossiping being about her battling skills. Angel stopped when she heard a couple of voices speaking in an adjacent room. The Dark-type looked around and backed against the wall, listening in.

"…I've already sent over five of them."

"Call them off, Zain. You and I both know the consequences." Audrey's voice said. "You're too rash about things like this."

"No, I'm not. I'm merely taking precautions."

"Bullshit. Call them off now, or things will get ugly over here." Audrey said. A long pause ensued.

"Fine." The second voice said. "Stand down and return to me for further commands."

"Good. We don't have any proof of your delusions." The Durant Captain's voice said with a touch of venom. "You can't just do things like that without alerting the others."

"Neither of us will speak about this."

"Urk… I know." The call was dropped right after, and Angel could hear the girl sigh. "I swear, if I could beat him myself, this wouldn't be so hard…"

Angel continued walking down the hallway as if nothing happened.

" _Hm… Something about that conversation… Rings a bell._ " The mercenary mused inwardly as she walked along the hallways with near-silent footsteps.

* * *

"Oh, hello, merc." The Ambipom pilot said. "You all set?" He asked. Angel nodded in reply and continued walking towards the hangar alongside the pilot. "Not much of a talker, are you?" Angel didn't reply. "Thought so."

The two walked in silence to the hangar in the fairly dull hallways of the base. Once the two reached the hangar, the purple gijinka checked the watch on his right arm.

"We've got about twenty minutes before checkups are done and we'll be leaving." Angel nodded and drew her sword out slowly. "Uh…" The Absol examined her blade which shone in the brightly lit hangar. "I'll let you do your thing while we wait." The Ambipom said as he walked to a vending machine.

Pokémon were inspecting each of the vehicles- sand buggies, planes which ranged from transport to bombers, and a small boat being held up off the floor by thick spider webs were all going under maintenance from Steel-, Electric-, Psychic- Ground-, Flying-types, and spiders.

Because why not tend to a boat with spiders? Or any vehicle, for that matter? Except, when it catches fire.

"What are you up to over here, merc?"

A Braviary approached the Dark-type standing by herself in the busy hangar.

"…Awaiting my next orders."

"Oh, you're part of the Pokémon headed to the Center, aren't ya?" The Eagle queried. "Keep an eye on yourself out there. Lots of slums there, and that's probably where you're going to be stationed."

"I already know that place well." Angel stated. The Flying-type nodded.

"Just saying. Hey, you don't seem like you carry much with you."

"Because I don't."

"No gadgets or anything?"

"No."

"You're fun to talk to." The Braviary remarked with a snicker. Angel kept quiet and devoid of emotion. "Don't you feel anything once in a while?"

"Of course I'm aware I'm a living Pokémon." The Dark-type replied. "All that matters are my contracts."

"Dedicated type of mercenary, huh?" the Eagle remarked. "I know a few Pokémon who'd respect you for that."

"Yo, Tom." The Ambipom said as he walked over with a soda can in hand.

"Sup?" The Braviary, Tom, said.

"All fixed up now?" The pilot asked.

"Yep. Those damn Shadow Pokémon pack a punch." The Flying-type remarked.

"They must have some serious firepower to be able to breach into the Ruins like that."

"You mean the Boundary Ruins up north?" The Valiant Pokémon asked. The Ambipom gijinka nodded.

"Where else would they find Volcarona and a group of Sigilyph?"

"True that, buddy. Those Sigilyph were trained to guard the place with their lives, and that Volcarona is supposed to be able to rival even a Legendary Pokémon or something."

"Still… You guys mentioned that she looked young, right?" The Long Tail Pokémon gijinka questioned, earning a nod from the Flying-type. "Huh… Must be a princess or something."

"Princess?"

"I like to think I did my homework." The ground-based Normal-type replied. "Apparently, the ruins have an underground city, where they live like they used to way back when. Half the country still doesn't know of its existence, a fourth doesn't believe it, and the other fourth are those like me who actually believed it." The purple Pokémon explained. "Didn't think Periculum would've be interested there, though."

"Yeesh… So if those guys were the guardians and that girl was their princess…"

"That probably means everyone in the city is dead." The Ambipom's expression took a darker tone.

"Hey, there MIGHT just be some survivors, you know." Tom responded. "We could go send in an Elite Team or something, they might be able to find something useful, if not anyone alive down there."

"Dude, I was thinking the same thing." The Normal-type replied as his two tails swayed. "It would be pretty easy to convince the Captain, General, and even Sir Ludendorff if we just tell him it's for his archeology thing."

"What was that about a Captain?" The three Pokémon turned to see a familiar Durant walking over.

"Captain Audrey." Tom and the pilot both said with a quick salute.

"At ease, boys." The Durant girl replied with a smile. "What were you all talking about with Angel here?" She asked.

"Captain, we suspect a city in the ruins up north. An underground city, to be accurate." Tom the Braviary gijinka stated.

"Hang on, you what?" The Steel-type said incredulously. "What makes you say that?"

* * *

"It sure is quiet down there." Samantha mused. Below, through the window, a ravaged battlefield took the place of a city. Scavengers were out and about while smoke still rose from some of the taller buildings while a few had already burned down. No signs of fighting or noise were seen or heard down below.

"It's better that way- clear skies." The Ambipom pilot said.

"It's a bit too quiet out there." Nathan said.

"Meh, I wouldn't think so." The pilot replied. "When you've got my job, you need to be seriously lucky to be having peace and quiet like this."

"I'll take your word for it." A certain Jolteon said as she lay on a mattress. "Wake me up if anything interesting happens." Taryn closed her eyes and withheld a smirk.

"Oh no, we're under attack, Taryn, get up." Oscar said lazily but with a light chuckle at the end.

"Sad try, genius." The Lightning gijinka laughed.

Angel drowned out the chatter of a Water-type and Electric-type behind her to watch the aftermath of a week old battle. The girl clad in white carefully eyed each of the Pokémon down below, despite not being able to make out their details clearly at the altitude they were flying at.

The Absol cast a glance back at her current team- a cool and calm Decidueye scout, a more-than-average Braixen mage, an slightly boyish Jolteon hacker, and a bold Floatzel who balanced the team very well.

" _They aren't much…_ " The Absol silently mused. She returned her look to the ground below, watching as two Pokémon walked down an empty street. " _But they do have potential._ "

"Back to the Center, huh…" Samantha mused.

"Been a couple of months now since we were last deployed there." Nathan mused. The Fire-type nodded. "I wonder how much the area there has changed."

"Me too."

"Lots of the Driasian mercs grow up there." The pilot commented. "Lots, but not all. What about you, battle star?" The Ambipom asked as he turned his head to face the Disaster Pokémon looking out the window.

"What's it to you?" Angel asked back.

"Just asking." The pilot replied.

"Do you treat everyone that way?" Oscar and Taryn asked in unison.

"That shouldn't matter." The Absol replied.

"I'm starting to think this is more than just mercenary dedication." The Long Tail Pokémon commented with a chuckle.

"Hey, pilot, know anything about what we're doing when we get there?" The purple-clad Normal-type paused in thought for a moment.

"As far as I know, you're one of the teams that have been summoned to the Center by the Master Tobias. We've got big plans with the information you lot have obtained for us." The Ambipom explained. "And if I heard correctly, you'll spend a day or two in the main HQ there then disguise yourselves in the slums or in Virtue City."

"Gee, I hope we get to stay in the former." Taryn said.

"It's a fun place to be in." Nathan added.

"Yeah, hope for the best. Because most of you teams are going into the slums."

* * *

 ** _UPDATE_** _(10/5/2017):_

 _Yay, Updated chapter four's out! After such a long pause…_

 _Events are kicking in and finals are coming. As if the amount of work wasn't enough to swamp me down…_

 _…Well, that, and I've been playing_ Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth (Special Edition) _in my spare time. The one that comes with the pillow case of the Kamunagi of Chains(which, btw, I haven't used since I got the game last month)._

 _So now I'm seeing some… Loopholes in this story, which I intend to address with some minor fixes in the later chapters. Oh, and I've decided to get Chapter Sixteen up before I start working on the rewrites for Chapters five and six._

 _Hmm, right. I'll be making the segments longer from here on out. I initially planned for them to be 12 ~ 20 chapters, average of 15, but looking at the plans for this story's future, I might have to reconsider. So do excuse any confusion this statement will cause since I'm still new and all._

 _I've thought up of more interesting stuff. And I'll add a little more slice of life to the story. Soo yeah._

 _Don't really know what else to say at this point._

 _Oh, right. Shoutout to WyldClaw for the reviews! I really appreciate them. A perfected Shadow Pokémon- one that will work like a mindless slave, yet is not mindless itself. One with enough power to put them on par with species like Zapdos, Latios, Heatran, and Keldo. That's what they are in a nutshell._

 _Well, bigger details about the whole "Perfected" Shadow Pokémon thing will be in much, much later chapters._

 _And the rogue Pokémon? Angel does seem like a candidate at first… But only time will really tell if she's a Shadow Pokémon or not. For all we know, the escapee could be within the Resistance. Or even working in Periculum. Or an average citizen in a city that has nothing to do with a Date a Live cosplayer and a Lucario._

 _…I've said too much, haven't I? lol. Technically, none of it is a lie. **Technically.**_

 _Anyway readers, have a good day. I'll try to dedicate a little more time to my writing once I finish Finals._

 _I just need to ask my teachers if I can bring earphones for the exams. I know one teacher who does play music (which nearly everyone enjoys) during exams, and it's not a bad thing at all._

 _The prospect of playing some final boss themes during the exams sounds like… Fun. Hehehehuehuehuehue_

 _Oh, and before I go, I MIGHT be able to start throwing photos on my account. As in things I did myself. Yep, I now have the materials to do it with, just have to start getting practice in. So the emblems, the appearances, and stuff like that will really be seen._

 _Not telling you to stop imagining what they look like for you. In fact, I encourage that. Reader interpretations that are not on the same wavelength as an author's are actually just as great since they give way to ideas for other things._

 _Well my fingers are dead and I can smell chicken downstairs. I'll be signing out for now, sooo bai._

 _Shade, out._


	5. C5 - The Center Base & Virtue City

Shadows in War, Segment One, Chapter Five – The Center Base & Virtue City

* * *

 _ **DISCLAIMER**_ : _Even though it's obvious enough, I don't have anything to do with Game Freak or Nintendo._

 _Hm, since we're here, let's hear it out for_ Greatwestern1522 _for the favorite. I'm glad to see another person enjoying my work out there. ^_^_

 _The planning for Segment Two is coming along nicely. There'll be a little more action than here in Segment One, and more moments that expand on the characters. And of course not too many important faces will be introduced then, that's for the third part_

* * *

An eternal purple and black void was all the eye could see for miles. No sound, no scents, just emptiness. There was no sense but sight, and while there wasn't any visible floor, one could stand up straight as if it were a paved walkway. Testifying to that would be a lonesome gijinka dressed in white.

"Where is this…?" Angel mused as she took tentative steps forward, testing for any gaps that may be hidden in plain sight. "Where am I?" The Absol looked around, but the swirling void of purple and black covered everything within her sight. The Absol closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Angel's eyes shot up and the girl clutched her head.

"Gah… What is this?"

Before her, the void began to swirl steadily into a vortex in front of her. Angel shook herself from the headache and glared at it, moving her right arm to her sword. However, when she reached, the weapon wasn't there, surprising the Absol.

"My sword…" The Dark-type immediately turned around to shoot a Shadow Ball when she sensed movement behind her.

However, a blinding white light flashed before her, staggering the girl. When the Disaster Pokémon could open her eyes again, she found herself in a large rounded room with shiny metal walls, floors, and ceilings. In the center of the room was a thick metal pillar with what appeared to be a door at the bottom. Strange machines covered the walls.

"…Up…" Angel turned to the wall to face the source of the voice. Nothing was there. The Absol then turned around once more to view her surroundings. The Dark-Type took a fearful step back and widened her eyes.

"No…" She said quietly.

"Up… Wa… Up!" Angel clutched her head as she fell to her knees, letting out a scream of agony.

"Wake up!"

* * *

"Urgh…" Angel groaned as she slowly stirred while holding onto a railing for support.

"We're here." A familiar Decidueye's voice stated.

"You were out like a light." Taryn said. Angel shook her head and looked around- she was in a plane's cabin with Samantha, Taryn, Oscar, and Nathan. The Absol grunted and looked out the window to see the plane landing.

"You must have had nice dreams." Samantha commented.

"Hmph." Angel replied as she straightened herself and went back to her usual self.

"Alright everybody, out we go." The pilot stated. "Good luck out here."

"Thanks."

The team made their way off the plane and were greeted by a small group of Pokémon wearing the Resistance's emblem on their apparel.

"Let's clear out of here so the pilot there can taxi into the hangar." A Growlithe gijinka said. Everyone headed for a large gate leading to the interior of the visible base.

"Master Tobias has awaited your arrival." A tall woman in a long, purple, leopard-themed dress walked closer. "He's been wanting to greet the team that's gotten us all this wonderful information."

"Gee, is that the only thing he called us here for?" Samantha asked.

"No, he actually does have plans for you." A Slowbro said.

He's in the Command Center. You know where that is, right?" A Pineco said as he pointed to one of the doors.

"Um… I think it was this way?" Samantha mused as she began walking down a hallway and turned left.

"Yeah, that way. Go take the second left, then the third right, and then head over to the lower floors."

The other four followed the Braixen, glancing into the rooms they passed by. Plenty of gijinkas donning the emblem on their clothes were scattered everywhere, more than the previous base they were stationed. The base was lively with Pokémon everywhere going about ordinary life.

A few small groups with other emblems besides the Resistance caught the attention of the main cast as they strolled through. One room held three Pokémon dressed in green with a yellow and green sun emblem on red scarves also donning the Resistance emblem. Another room held an Espeon girl with the Resistance emblem encased in a zero on her shirt. Still another room had a Roserade gijinka wearing a navy blue scarf with the Resistance's emblem, albeit the dragon in the emblem was much more pronounced.

"Those are… Elite Team emblems, if I'm not mistaken." Nathan remarked as the group walked on.

"Huh?" Taryn looked back at the Decidueye.

"So all those guys we passed with two emblems are part of Elite Teams?" Oscar queried. The owl archer nodded in response as they passed by a room with a rather large man donning the Resistance Emblem plus an emblem depicting shadows on water's surface.

"Think we'll get to be an Elite Team if Master Tobias is nice enough?" Taryn asked.

"Tobias is nice, but he's also fair. He won't give us a medal 'till he thinks we deserve it." The Grass-type replied.

"With all we've done?" Samantha started. "I'm pretty sure we'll get to be an elite team too!" The Fire-type excitedly said with a light hop. "So psyched for that!"

"Ah, there you are." A voice said. The group looked forward in the hallway to see a proud figure standing in the hall.

A light green t-shirt covered his torso. Extending from the man's back were a pair of rhombus shaped wings of the same color but with a thick red outline. Regular fit pants of the same light green color were accompanied by a tail with dark and light green stripes ending in three small rhombus shapes with the same red outline as on the wings. A pair of dark green running shoes seemingly designed for aviation decorated his feet.

Up top, the gijinka's hair was a cool green shade with a pair of antennae-like extensions of his hair running back. The most prominent feature on his face were a pair of large, rounded red shades that gave his eyes a shielded look. A navy blue scarf with the exact same patterns as the Roserade's fell to the Pokémon's midsection, and slung to his back between the wings was a Barret .50 CAL sniper rifle.

"About time I found you." The Flygon gijinka stated.

"Master Tobias, it's an honor to meet you again." Nathan stated with a bow, which Oscar mimicked while Taryn and Samantha did their own bow. Angel simply stood without word or pose.

"I see you've been doing well with Angel by your side." Tobias said. One could practically feel the confidence radiating from the Resistance Leader.

"Next time, could you send us a notification for things like this?" Oscar queried. The Ground- and Dragon-type chuckled in response.

"Yeah. Guess her joining you was a little fast, huh? Anyway, follow me."

"Firstly, thanks a lot guys for finding all that stuff. Now we've got a better chance at beating Periculum." Tobias said with a light clap. "Now, as for why I summoned you and other teams here- Since you're the last to arrive, I'll explain it to you from the top. What we're planning is you'll head into the city and others into the slums- pose as civilians and collect as much information as possible. After a couple of weeks, you'll return here for further instructions. Simple, ain't it?"

"Yep. We gotcha." Taryn said.

"Cool. Now of course this means removing your Resistance accessories and emblems for a while. And maybe changing your names and throwing on a few new accessories." The Flygon said. "Don't want Periculum spotting the team that stole their info, no?" The original four answered with a nod. "As for your weapons, keep 'em will hidden, or don't bring them at all. I'm sure you three can fight without the sword, spear, and claws, right?"

"Hmph."

"I guess."

"Yeah."

"Alright, then it's settled. I'll have Matt give you clearance into the Empire Hotel in Virtue City. I'll give you the all clear once he's done that, and you'll be off." The Dragon-type stated.

"Alright. But Master-"

"Don't call me that too often!" Tobias whined. "I'm not one for formalities."

"OK. Tobias, when will Matt be doing that?" Taryn asked.

"When his girlfriend gets him out of the room he locked himself in." The Flygon replied with a chuckle.

"Girlfriend?" Nathan and Oscar asked in unison, their expressions dumbstruck.

"I think it's evident enough." Tobias said. "Some of the other leaders and other Resistance Pokémon agree."

"Wait, who are you talking about?" Nathan queried.

"Audrey, duh." Samantha replied.

"Audrey? Really?" Oscar asked. Taryn and Samantha both sighed in response.

"You guys are just _so_ naïve." The Electric-type mumbled.

"Eh, well, it shouldn't be long considering he's been in there for two days without food and water now."

"Oh, yeah… It's already been that long."

"Yup. He'll come out in a while, have a snack, then get back to work. Determined little kid." The green dragon remarked. "Anyways, you can go off and do whatever you want now."

"No Elite promotion?"

At that, the Flygon blinked twice with a look that screamed "You what mate?"

"Uh, no. You did well to get us this info and to survive an onslaught of Shadow Pokémon, but you're still a ways to go if you want to be among the elites."

Behind them, a wide digital screen appeared from the ceiling which displayed a very, very, tired and starved looking Meowstic. Words began materializing on the screen.

"I got you some good information. Read through it… I need to eat and sleep." With that, Matt left the screen and in his place were a large amount of files- all decrypted and unlocked.

"Well now… This is interesting." Tobias mused. A familiar girl's voice burst through the audio systems in the room.

"MATT! You're alive! Come on, I've got you food and a bed!" Quiet but audible laughter could also be heard aside from Audrey dragging off a possibly fainted hacker to who knows where.

"Do I get points for seeing that coming?" Tobias asked with a laugh. Taryn and Samantha both giggled and gave the Flygon leader a thumbs up. "Alright, now let's see what we have here… We know of Project T… Project S… Huh. That outpost you got this data from was apparently used to move cargo around safely." The Flygon mused. "Those Sigilyph and Volcarona that you fought were obtained in the Boundary Ruins way up north, and they were going to be shipped off to the Southeast Range."

"Oh, that would have been deadly." Nathan mused.

"Yep. Flying enemies that can deal damage like that would give Zane a run for his money. Moving on… Project T. I'll read off from here… Type: All is a Pokémon created in controlled laboratory environments designed to tank any move and deal damage of any type due to its ability to shift its typing via the RKS System."

"RKS System?"

"Changing types?"

"The Type: All models have been produced with forty-five total units as of this update, and each are being experimented on while the newer ones are being given the life support to come into existence."

"That's horrible…"

"There's more." The Mystic gijinka stated. "The Type: All are capable of showing emotion, thinking for themselves, among other things a normal Pokémon would have. All of which were unintended. Thankfully, nearly all of them obey every command and believe that their purpose is to serve Periculum. We are currently working on how to shut down their logical functions, and once the models have been perfected, they will be turned into Shadow Pokémon- theoretically, they will lose their default Normal-type and become the first Shadow-type Pokémon."

"Okay, we're officially screwed." Oscar stated with a gulp following his sentence.

"Guess what? That isn't all of Project T. It says here: Some of the units, whether sentient or not, go berserk and destroy their surroundings. Those berserk models have been either terminated or sealed away in private chambers until we can find a way to negate that."

"That's… Horrible." Samantha remarked.

"Those guys have brains like we do- and they're being used as slaves…" The Floatzel gijinka added.

"I know… Heh, once we get word of this out to Driasia, Periculum's going to lose some support." The Ground-type mused as he scanned around the files as if he was skipping them.

In truth, Tobias was a fast reader- and very used to reading through dozens of files at a time. The Flygon would read through the names of folders and judge importance by the names- those he deemed top priority would go first, and he'd read through the rest later on.

"Wanna stick around for a few more letters?" The Flygon queried.

"Sure, let's hear 'em." The yellow gijinka replied.

"Might find something useful to us." The Fire-type added.

"…"

"Dear Mister President… Our hunts have been unsuccessful. We have scoured Driasia far and wide as stealthily as we could, but we have had no good fortune in locating the target. We have consulted the aid of a few mercenaries as well, but most of them had either the same luck as us, or outright refused due to the employers being with Periculum.

As much as I hate to say it, my lord, Subject A may very well have left the nation a long time ago. With the amount of traders and a few tourists frequenting Driasia, the target may have slipped in with one leaving the nation. If Subject A did indeed leave the country, then she will not be coming back."

"Again with that Subject A character." Oscar mused.

"Great… A runaway Shadow Pokémon in another nation? What could possibly go wrong?" Taryn remarked sarcastically.

"Heh…" Tobias gave the main cast a smug look. "It looks like even Periculum has some weak links too."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Samantha quizzed.

"I don't think our little rogue has gotten away just yet." The Flygon gijinka stated. "Periculum has tight surveillance on the borders of the nation. Their best technology. And they did all that right after the escape, according to timelines. If this character did escape the country, Periculum would know about it, and we'd probably be hearing more news internationally about what Periculum is really planning. Think about it- if you were an escaped rogue Shadow Pokémon, wouldn't you spread the word about it to as many people as you can when you're in a safer place?"

"That… makes a lot of sense, actually." The Grass- and Ghost-type Nathan responded.

After a deep breath, the next Pokémon to speak caught the rest's attention.

"Have you ever considered that perhaps more Shadow Pokémon escaped?" Angel queried.

"Well, we've checked most of the files… But I can't rule that possibility out. Thanks for the insight, Angel."

* * *

Back at the Northern Headquarters, a half-dead Meowstic lay in a bed with an empty plate lying on the table right next to it. Matt softly snoozed while a certain Steel-type captain watched over him.

"You work a little too hard sometimes, you know?" Audrey said. The Durant captain had been keeping an eye on her Meowstic friend for about half an hour already. Of course, the occasional yawn and the snoozing made the Resistance Captain drowsy, but she fought it off by drawing her blades every so often and practicing a few swings in the air with them.

Her swords were short but lightweight and packed a punch when combined with a move such as X-Scissor. The Durant admired the fine, yet simple design the blades held and sheathed them.

"You need to learn when to give yourself a break, Matt…" The Bug- and Steel-type mused with a chuckle. "But… That determination… It's one of your cooler aspects. We wouldn't be able to crack the codes on those files without you." The Constraint Pokémon remained asleep.

"You did an awesome job, so… Get all the rest you need." A paper slid down to the captain's feet. Audrey picked up the little slip and unfolded it.

" _I won't need to rest for much longer. Thanks a lot for doing this Dree… Again._ " The Iron Ant gijinka blinked a few times before slowly turning to face a Meowstic sitting up in bed.

* * *

A couple of hours have passed, and the Center HQ was livelier than before, particularly at one of the battlefields exposed to the sky.

"You're pretty good, merc." Angel backed off as did her opponent, both having just clashed swords with one another.

The Pokémon wore a green t-shirt underneath a forest green jacket with six yellow dots on the back while a red bandana was tied around his midsection. He wore dark green track pants with forest green boots. Green gloves held onto a katana with a green circular grip. The blade itself was made from titanium, and the edge seemed sharp enough to slice through even an Aggron's armor. A large tree-like tail extended from the Grass-type's back. Lastly, a red scarf was wrapped around the Sceptile's neck comfortably. It bore the resistance emblem and a green and yellow sun emblem on it as well.

"You're not so bad yourself." Angel replied.

"Heh. Well, if you won't strike, then I will!" The Sceptile gijinka charged forward as his blade became much like a sharpened leaf. Angel's broadsword began emitting dark energy and blocked the Leaf Blade.

The crowd cheered as the Sceptile and Absol exchanged blows with Night Slash, Leaf Blade, and occasional Ice Beams, Shadow Balls, Energy Balls, and Focus Blasts.

"Edmund isn't the leader of an Elite team for nothing." A familiar Flygon's voice stated behind the main Resistance team.

"It's evidenced by the way he fights." Nathan remarked. "You can see the years of training and experience he has."

"Angel's found herself a worthy opponent." Samantha mused.

"And so has our leader." The group turned to face a tall man wearing a long brown robe with a large leaf scarf adorning the upper torso. He sported four long leaves which served as wings, and a thick green helmet covered his head, save for his face. The man had an axe slung to his back, and he too wore a red scarf just like the Sceptile did.

Alongside the Tropius gijinka was a girl wearing a green tank top over a pleated yellow and green skirt. Her blond hair was decorated with two red flowers on either side. Rather than shoes, the girl wore light green sandals around her feet. A red scarf with the Resistance emblem and the sun emblem was on her neck as well.

"Edmund's always been bored that not too many of our enemies are good at swordplay." The Bellossom said. "The prospect of fighting the mercenary who managed to top his high score by a league in the Simulator really excited him."

"The Solar Division!" Taryn remarked. "You're Amanda, and that's Delbert, right?" Taryn asked. The two Grass-types nodded.

"The one and only elite team of Grass-types."

"You're the group that defeated an army of Periculum soldiers four years ago in a Drought." Oscar stated.

"Yep, that was us." Delbert said. "With the sun to our backs, no enemy can withstand our power."

"Well, let's not get distracted, people." The two teams faced a certain Flygon standing next to them. "Angel sure is something else."

"It's been way too long since I've been able to fight like this!" Edmund, the Sceptile, stated with a laugh. "How are you holding up so far?"

"Doing well." The Absol replied.

"Although she's cold and kinda antisocial, Angel seems like she's having fun." Samantha stated.

" _So she's passionate about the way of the sword too, huh?_ " The Mystic Pokémon mused internally.

"Don't think you're going to beat me that easily, hotshot!" The Sceptile roared as he swung horizontally with the katana in a Leaf Blade. Angel countered with her Night Slash.

Despite the moves only blocking one another, both gijinkas recoiled from the force of a would-be double critical hit. Angel instantly leaped up and fired an Ice Beam at her foe who dodged it with a flash from his eye.

" _Detect._ " The Dark-type thought to herself. Angel twirled and vanished into a Double Team horde to dodge a Focus Blast thrown her way.

Just as fast as the clones landed, they disappeared.

"Why would she do that?" One of the Pokémon in the crowd queried.

"Because." Tobias started, gaining everyone's (but the fighters) attention. "Angel here can see that her opponent isn't going to have a hard time searching through the clones for her. Edmund has enough experience to discern the real one. She figures she'd be wasting her energy trying to trick him with that for very long."

"No way…"

"She can really tell how experienced he is?"

The Sceptile grunted as he was nicked in the leg by a Night Slash. However, he instantly swung his blade downwards to slash at the Absol. Angel blocked the hit and prepared to fire a Shadow Ball.

Edmund backed up and let loose an Energy Ball to counter the Ghost-type move. However, the Sceptile looked up and barely blocked a Night Slash from Angel.

"Not so fast." The Grass-type stated as he sidestepped and then swung an Iron Tail, knocking Angel back by six meters.

"He's got five moves…" Taryn mumbled.

"With enough experience, you can go a looooong way from four. Only Legendary Pokémon ever manage to hit the twelve-move limit, while most of us stronger Pokémon get up to six." Tobias explained. "Records in history depict some managing eight or even nine moves all at once, and only one was able to get to eleven."

"So in other words…"

"Hmph." Angel cast another Ice Beam in the Sceptile's direction. Edmund jumped to avoid the move and threw an Energy Ball at the Absol.

The Grass-type followed his attack with sword in hand and prepared for a Leaf Blade combo. The Dark-type predicted it but rather than dodging it, she sliced through the Energy Ball and blocked the Leaf Blade.

"Now I can see why you got 71,095."

"It wasn't much."

Angel parried the blow with a critical hit, sending the Sceptile flying back with a scream of pain.

"Argh…" Edmund looked up to see Angel standing over him. The Absol sheathed her sword. "Good match." The Sceptile stood up and groaned lightly as a trickle of blood poured from his chest.

"You should get that fixed up." Angel stated as she walked to her side of the battlefield and nodded.

"Another time?" Edmund queried. The Absol looked back at him and nodded again.

"You were good practice…" Angel remarked as she walked away.

"Damn, she really is THAT strong!"

"To have defeated Edmund in sword-on-sword combat is a hell of an achievement." A Rhyperior with a green scarf containing two emblems stated.

"Looks like we found ourselves one good mercenary." Tobias mused. "She was really expensive to hire, you know?"

"How?"

"We had to pay a few ten thousand Pokédollars." The Flygon gijinka stated. "But looking at her now, it was so worth it."

"Go figure, for a mercenary of that caliber." Nathan remarked.

"Yeah. When we first heard of her, we didn't believe it either… Until she gave Claire a glimpse of her strength." The Flygon replied.

"You mean Angel actually battled Claire?" Taryn queried, as those who heard those words also looked at the Resistance Leader in pure shock.

"No, they didn't fight. Angel just did a little fighting while Claire sat back and enjoyed the show." The Flygon said while waving his arms low. "But if they did fight… It would be pretty hard to decide a winner between them."

"So, Master Tobias, you're saying that she's as strong as YOU guys?" A Whimsicott questioned.

"Yep." The Ground-type responded.

"Wow…. You guys are so lucky to have someone that strong fight with you!" A Hitmonlee gijinka said to the main cast.

"Eheh… Well, you might change your mind when you get her on your team." Oscar replied as he scratched the back of his head.

Tobias smiled as he watched the many Resistance teams and Pokémon chat amongst each other and slowly, everyone had left, leaving the Flygon by himself on the dirt runway.

" _Hm… A Top Mercenary, huh?_ "

* * *

"Interesting."

Tobias was scrolling through the files sent to him by Matt. The Flygon read through letter after letter, taking in every detail. Not one word was missed. Through the red shades, the Mystic Pokémon's eyes scanned through every pixel on the screen.

"Talk about paranoid… No last or first names. It's the first time we've ever managed to get their info too." The Ground-type mused. Clicking and clacking of the keyboard echoed through the room as Tobias continued searching around the files.

"So the next place to hit… Hm. But first we need to gather intel." The Ground- and Dragon-type opened up a chart and examined the details. "Yeah… And the B… Okay."

A knock on the metal door caught the Flygon's attention. Tobias sighed and stood up to walk to the door.

"Yeah?" The Dragon-type said as he opened the door.

"Master Tobias, a message." A Nidoking gijinka stated. The Poison-type handed over a small envelope to the Resistance's dragon.

"Huh. Alright, thanks." The Drill Pokémon nodded and walked away, leaving a mildly bewildered Flygon standing at a door to the main room.

Tobias closed the door behind him and went back to his chair before opening the envelope.

"Who the hell still uses these things in this day and age?" The Mystic Pokémon (not really) muttered.

"To: Mr. Staudinger. From: P. I swear to Arceus…" The Ground-type facepalmed. "It appears to us that you have important information with you. Now, obviously, you won't be deleting it because we asked you, but know this. Your "Resistance" will fall at our hands. No matter how strong you think you are, no matter what bonds some of your teams have, they are no match for heartless Shadow Pokémon and type-changing units. Surrender all of your organization's equipment, locations, and elite fighters or suffer the consequences." The Flygon paused in thought.

"Periculum…" Tobias was cut off as fanfare played in the speakers around the room. The Flygon immediately switched tabs to a web browser with his e-mail on it.

"...How the hell did they manage to get this to me again?"

* * *

"Okay, what to wear, what to wear…?" A certain Braixen mused as she scoured the interior of a small closet before her.

"We should totally take everyone shopping for this when we get to Virtue City." Taryn stated.

"Yeah. And it's awesome that our excuse IS completely legit!" Samantha followed.

"We've got to stay disguised from Periculum's Pokémon, don't we?" The two gijinkas said in unison with a light giggle.

"Hmm… What would go well with my tail?" The Fire-type asked.

"This is what's cool about gijinkas- as long as we change our apparel and hairstyles, facial recognition doesn't exactly matter." Taryn said.

"Agreed." Samantha replied.

"I wonder what's taking the girls so long." Oscar stated. He and Nathan were lounging in another bedroom with their "disguises" up.

Nathan donned a more modern brown hoodie over a white polo shirt. Accompanying that was a pair of white pants that reached down to green boots with feather designs. Resting on the Decidueye's collar was was a red bowtie shaped in a four-edged star, while on the back of the hood was a precariously placed feather quill.

Oscar on the other hand wore a cream t-shirt underneath an orange waterproofed jacket. He wore orange pants for the lower half while his forked tail could still be seen drooping downwards. A pair of orange sneakers decorated the Water-type's feet, and now he had a faux hawk hairstyle over a pair of ocean blue eyes.

"Well, that is how girls are…" Nathan mused.

"Doesn't need to be anything fancy, we'll only be doing this for a week or so anyway." The Water-type stated. The creaking of the door caught the two Pokémon's attention.

"Hey, how do we look?" Taryn asked.

The Jolteon in question donned a yellow denim jacket over a white tank top. She wore a pair of yellow cargo pants sporting spike and lightning designs along it, and her shoes did not change. Her yellow hair was styled in a ponytail tied by a white band to finish her look.

As for Samantha, she sported a yellow kimono with fire patterns running along it while a black band held the dress in place around her torso. Of course, her fluffy fox tail still stuck out from the lower back, and with it, a stick nested within the mass of fluff. The Fire-type wore black sandals. Half her feet were covered by the kimono. The biggest change, however, was in her hair- rather than short, it was now hip-length, almost reaching her tail. A pair of fiery orange twin tails were on either side of her yellow-orange hair.

"Uh…"

"Samantha, how did your ha-"

"Don't ask, it's gijinka logic."

"Okay…"

Taryn coughed as she deadpanned. The two boys both realized what that meant and then whistled.

"Looking good." Nathan stated.

"Is that all?" Samantha queried.

"Hey, we're not good at telling you how beautiful you two look." The Water-type replied with a supportive nod from Nathan. The two girls both blushed lightly and smiled.

"Thanks, you guys."

"Hey, what about Angel?"

Right on cue, another Pokémon entered the room. A white baggy hoodie was the first thing noticed, then a white knee-length skirt. From who knows where, though, a black tail that resembled a blade still stuck out from behind. The Absol still had on the same tights and shoes, but now her hair was shoulder-length and didn't fall to the upper right side of her face. She no longer had black fingerless gloves, but the black pendant necklace still remained on her neck just outside the hoodie.

"Someone looks like they're feeling _cold_." Oscar remarked, earning a deadpan look from everyone and a facepalm from Taryn. "What, it's funny, isn't it?"

"I suppose we're ready to leave."

"Weapons check?" Nathan queried.

"Claws in the locker." Taryn replied.

"The same goes to my sword." Angel added.

"Spear's stored." Oscar followed.

"Alright, we're good." Samantha stated. "Virtue City, here we come."

* * *

Bullet trains going at 300 kilometers per hour dashed around a vast array of skyscrapers that pierced the clouds. Every corner you looked was another Pokémon. Streets, shops, malls, and even the rooftops, the city was bustling with energy. Dazzling lights coated the city day and night.

Despite the war between Periculum, the Resistance, and whoever was neutral, Virtue City endured due to its contracts with all sides. But that didn't mean that this place was a utopia- like any other city, it had crime, it had bad Pokémon in it, and nothing was truly perfect.

"It's been such a long time." Taryn said.

"Yeah, I kinda missed the feel this place gives." Nathan added. The group was riding on one of the many trains that zoomed around the city. And of course, they all had to sit right next to each other to avoid getting lost in the crowd of people riding the same train they did.

"Kinda new for the rest of us." Oscar stated. While Nathan and Taryn lived half their lives in Virtue City, Samantha and Oscar had lived around the smaller cities and towns in Driasia.

"Hey, Angel, what about you?" The Braixen quizzed.

"I rarely stop by for employers." The Absol mercenary replied.

"Is that really the only thing you do?" Nathan asked. The Dark-type simply glanced in his direction before looking back out the window at the passing scenery.

The train slowed down to a halt and the doors opened. Pokémon flooded out of the train leaving it empty for a moment. The Resistance crew took the opportunity to leave right as more Pokémon entered the bullet train headed further into the city.

"Everyone good?" Nathan asked. A nod from his four teammates confirmed it and the group pressed onwards through the crowd.

"Excuse me."

"I'm sorry."

"Hungry…"

The voices of those in the crowd littered the metro station. After some excuses and ignoring advertising people, the group made it out of the large building and into a street littered with Pokémon going about their business.

"Uh… Taryn, directions?"

"I lived part of my life here, but I'm better at those creepy, rapey, druggy alleyways." The Jolteon replied with a smirk.

"Heh. I'll handle the main directions, then." Nathan said. "The Empire Hotel should be…" The Decidueye trailed off and looked around. "It's four blocks forward, then from there, three left." The owl archer stated.

"B-But… That's so many people." Samantha remarked, causing the team's hacker to grin from ear to ear.

"I know a shortcut…"

* * *

"Ugh, why HERE of all places?" Samantha queried. The group was walking around a dark tunnel dimly lit by the old lights on the ceiling. The area reeked of wastes and trash, while water and gunk filled the middle of the tunnel.

In other words, the Resistance team was now walking in a sewer.

"It's this, or get lost in a crowd. And besides, it's been too long since I've been here." Taryn replied.

"Sheesh, you never looked the part, Taryn." Oscar commented.

"That's 'cause I dropped it a few years back. I never really did the drugs or sold my body, but I was more like Angel." The Jolteon stated. "Took on the 'underground' businesses around this city, mostly courier work."

"Yeesh…" The Braixen trailed off. She was careful not to step on the gunky or corroded parts on the floor, and she definitely tried to avoid the spider webs that coated the walls and ceilings.

"Hmph… So you're The Underground Current." Angel mused.

"How'd you figure that out?" The Electric-type queried.

"I've done my fair share of quests around here as well." Angel replied. "Word spread very quickly about a very young and skilled courier and hacker."

"Are we almost there yet?" Nathan quizzed.

"Hehe, quit your whining. Now we turn left." The Jolteon said. "Good thing I decided to grab some perfume before we left." The Lightning gijinka replied.

"Uh, into a gross grate?" Oscar said. The Jolteon smiled and walked towards the large grate and with a light push, a small piece opened up. The resulting space was wide enough for one person to walk through.

"After you, sissy." The Floatzel deadpanned and strolled through the hole, followed by Samantha, Nathan, Angel, and finally Taryn herself.

"Okay, we're almost there… We just need to-" The group all cast their looks to the bubbling water next to them.

"Taryn, get us out of here already, this is creeping me out…" Samantha remarked.

"I, uh, don't remember that here…" The Jolteon mused. The group followed her out towards a ladder up ahead.

After a little while had passed, there was no sign of the Resistance anymore.

Back at the bubbling water, a strange black orb with purple tinting surfaced. The orb was covered in moss, dirt, grime, and whatever could be thought of that roams the sewers. Slowly, a few heads began poking out of the grimy water.

"They're gone. Now, let's have a look at our new treasure…"

"You asshole, you almost lost it for us." A second voice stated.

"They wouldn't have touched it anyway!" A third voice retorted.

"Enough. Examine it." The first voice said.

The figures in the water slowly rose up, revealing a large group of Grimer gijinka and a few Trubbish gijinka as well.

"Now, this isn't something you see everyday…" A Trubbish mused as the third Grimer opened a small, nearly invisible lid on the strange orb.

"What the hell!?" The Grimer shouted as a purple light filled the sewer.

* * *

Coughing and sneezing echoed throughout the sewers. A lone Grimer gijinka trembled in a corner, while blood was spilled on the floor and even in the water.

"Why… Why…" The Poison-type looked up to see a couple of Trubbish, bruised and bleeding slowly walk over to him.

"We need… to get… out…" One of the garbage bag gijinkas said.

"I don't know how we'll get out like this…"

"…Not with _it_ coming for us."

* * *

"Now THIS is the life."

The main cast were gathered in a moderately sized room with a 55-inch flatscreen TV, a few luxury couches, a green rug depicting a Rayquaza gijinka on it, a Chandelure-themed chandelier, a few Lampent-shaped lamps, a large table, and finally a balcony with glass doors was mostly hidden from sight by transparent curtains.

Oscar lounged on one of the couches, Angel leaned on a wall and seemed to be asleep, Nathan was watching TV, while a certain Braixen was out of the picture. Instead of the Fire-type being present, light poured out of the thick wooden door on one of the walls. As for Taryn, a frustrated sigh from the hallway in the back echoed through the room.

"Damn, this wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't a war going on right now." The Floatzel commented.

"You got that right."

"Arrrggh, this doesn't work!" Taryn's voice said from another room. "This cookbook doesn't make any seeeeeeense!"

"Hang on, I'll be there in a minute!" Samantha's voice echoed from the bathroom. The two males chuckles to themselves while Angel opened her eyes and stood up straight.

The Absol gijinka slid through the curtain next to her and into the balcony. Despite the amount of vehicles and Pokémon in the area, cool, fresh air greeted Angel as she slid the door behind her closed.

Now that the moon was up, a third of the Pokémon who were previously running amok on the streets were now gone, while the more nocturnal Pokémon took their places.

Silently, the Absol watched all that took place down below. From her height, nearly no sound could be heard coming from the busy streets. Only the faint breeze noise could be heard, and quiet honking of car horns.

"Taryn, what the HELL?" Samantha's voice rung out from behind.

Angel sighed and shook her head. " _I suppose I could head down there for tonight._ " The Dark-type entered in the hotel suite she and her friends were staying in and looked around. " _They're all in the kitchen…_ " The white-clad girl walked over to the hallway in the back and to a room emitting light and smoke.

"I'm not a good cook, sorry!" The Jolteon's voice replied.

The kitchen was filled with smoke, a Jolteon, a Braixen, a Decidueye, a Floatzel, and a stove coated in a strange, green gunk.

"I don't know how you managed to screw that up so badly, but congrats…" The owl archer mused.

"Hey, at least I generally cook better than you two boys." Taryn stated.

"True that." Oscar replied.

"Uuugggh…" Samantha facepalmed. The Braixen was now wearing her old outfit- a simple yellow dress that went to her knees with black knee-high socks to cover the rest of her legs. Her hair was still however, in its new style, albeit much cleaner since the sewers. "Alright, I'll clean this up. And make dinner afterwards."

"And what about me?" Taryn asked nervously.

"YOU are going to learn how NOT to make a mess of the kitchen!" The Fire-type retorted, earning a chuckle out of the two boys. The group turned to the door to see an Absol mercenary leaning against the doorframe.

"When did you get here?"

"A moment ago."

"Umm, OK…"

"Erm, Angel, we'd better go before Samantha gets us to do the dirty work here too." Nathan whispered as he passed the Absol in going out the room.

"I'd take his advice if I were you." Oscar added and left the room. The Absol mercenary gave them a glance and walked out as well, leaving a terrified Lightning Pokémon with a steaming Fox Pokémon.

"I'll step out for a while." Angel said as she casually walked out the main door.

"Wai-"

"Didn't even give us two seconds to reply." Nathan mused.

"Heh, that's Angel for ya." Oscar commented.

* * *

"Did you hear about their latest product?"

"Oh, you mean the new perfume?"

"Ugh, hungry."

"Heh, let's go over to that burger joint."

"Oh, shit, my wallet."

"Better grab that before some thief does."

"When do you think Boss'll give me a promotion?"

A certain Disaster Pokémon gijinka strolled around the streets at night, listening in on conversations that passed her by.

Angel cast her gaze up to the towering skyscrapers. A fourth of the city's buildings did indeed pierce the clouds, but the rest were levels below the masses of water vapor floating in the sky.

Hoppip floated gently on the breeze that ran around the city up above. The intricate designs of the tops of the buildings made it seem like it would be connected if one could survive a parkour course there.

"Hey, you." Angel turned back to the crowd around her. Standing before her was a woman wearing a brown t-shirt underneath a dark brown trench coat. She wore baggy dark brown suit pants and brown oxfords down below. A fedora adorned her head as well as a pair of long bunny ears that went well with her short hair. She had black gloves as well, and past that into the coat she wore were fluffy, light tan cuffs. The Lopunny gijinka's serious hazel eyes stared right back into a red-eyed glare from Angel.

"What?" Angel replied.

"Would you mind joining me for a cup of tea?" The Lopunny queried. Angel paused for a moment, wondering what was on the Normal-type's mind.

"I suppose I have time…" The Absol mused. The Lopunny nodded and began walking away. Angel followed closely, earning the duo just a few strange looks from the Pokémon gijinkas around them.

* * *

After much walking, the two eventually stopped in front of a small building that didn't seem to get much attention. The Lopunny walked up the steps to the door and opened it before motioning for Angel to walk in. The Absol walked in without hesitation.

A room with cabinets, bookshelves, and a few meager accessories gave the place a simple feel. At the desk on the opposite side of the room sat a man wearing a dark brown trench coat, much like the Lopunny's, over a collared dim yellow business shirt. A navy blue vest rested over the shirt, while navy blue baggy suit pants led down to a pair of black oxfords, and the man wore a dark brown fedora exactly like the Normal-type who led Angel there. Under the hat was deep blue hair with four black appendages -two on either side- at the back.

"Sit." The Lucario gijinka said as he lit a cigar. Angel obliged and sat down on one of the leather chairs before the desk. The Lopunny occupied the one across her.

"Cliché." Angel remarked. "Not talking about the place, but your species." The Lucario smiled faintly for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Fully aware, but we aren't the typical, much like yourself, mercenary." The Lucario gijinka stated. "The name's Hawkins. Russel Hawkins. And this…" The Fighting-type trailed off as he cast his gaze to the Lopunny sitting quietly. "Is my partner Bridget."

"Bridget Cunningham." The Lopunny stated. A couple of seconds went by and the two girls shook hands.

"Bridget, the tea." The Normal-type nodded and exited into another door. "So, you're going to wonder why you're here. Not who we are or what we do, since that doesn't interest you."

"You did your homework." Angel replied.

"Only whatever was available, mercenary. So I still don't know your true name, except the nickname you left for yourself in the Slums."

"Hmph."

"Let's wait for the tea to be ready before we discuss things. Until then, make yourself at home." Angel nodded and leaned back into the chair, examining the detective's office.

A small lamp on the moderately low ceiling dimly lit the semi-dark room. Books of all types, from fantasy, biographies, sciences, mathematics, stories, and so on were neatly arranged on the many bookshelves around the room. Wooden shelves and cabinets lined most of the otherwise empty spaces around the walls, while two doors were left with a little room around them on either side of the room. Blinds covered a pair of large windows behind the Lucario's desk, while the walls around them were fairly empty.

"Quaint…" Angel remarked. Russel raised a brow at the Absol mercenary. "I like it." The Dark-type added in a slightly warmer tone.

"I see you're well versed…" The Aura gijinka stated. "Otherwise, you'd be acting differently."

"…Thank you." Angel replied. The door on the right side of the room, where Bridget left, opened to reveal said Lopunny carrying two cups of tea. The Rabbit Pokémon set them down on a couple of old looking wooden coasters before going back to the room to get a third.

"A single look in your eyes tells us that you know what to do in situations like this, and can grasp a meaning behind what they mean." The Fighting-type said to the Dark-type wearing the white hoodie.

"Hmph…"

Bridget sat herself back on the chair she was previously on and took a sip of her tea. The Lucario behind the desk placed his cigar onto an ashtray on the right edge of the desk and cleared his throat.

"So, you're wondering why you're here. Bridget?"

"We handle the smaller things around Virtue City, and rarely, the Slums." The Normal-type continued. "And we've come across a lot of information, stopped a few bad guys, and had our fair share of adventures."

"So, what does this have to do with me?" Angel quizzed before taking a sip of her tea. " _Well done…_ "

"While we've guessed that you're already in a contract… We aren't exactly 'hiring' you, per se, but we'd just like to ask for your assistance in once recent case." Now it was the Dark-type's turn to raise a brow. Bridget took one of the papers on the desk and showed it to Angel.

"You want me to help you collect information?" The Absol queried.

"Read further."

"Hm…"

"So… What do you think?"

"…I'm in."

* * *

 _Fortunately enough, I didn't have too much to change in this one. Seemed okay enough. I dunno, what do you guys think?_

 _Oh, and sorry for being a day late and stuff. Iiiiii stepped out for a little bit yesterday._

 _By that I mean I went cross country for a whole day._

 _Anyways, it was fun being the quartermaster for a day. Do you know how entertaining it is when your phone tells you you_ teleported _into a golf course and a military air base? Derp._

 _In about four more days I'll be going back to Hell. We SHOULDN'T have any events right now, and hopefully the work will not be as umm… Varied, so to speak so it will be at least a little easier to keep working on this thing._

 _Given that's all I really have to say right now and can't think of anything I might need to address at the moment, I'll be ending it here._

 _Shade, out._


	6. C6 - Heists: Intelligence

Shadows in War, Segment One, Chapter Six – Heists

* * *

 _ **DISCLAIMER-san says that Shade only owns the plot, characters, and universe. Everything else belongs to their rightful owners.**_

 _Sorry, too busy to be posting anything at the moment. It's a miracle I even managed to work on this. I'll update you guys properly next chapter. Or something. There are notes below, though, but you'll have to read the whole thing... Again, for some, if you wanna get there :P  
_

* * *

Not a single sound was heard.

Not in the soundproofed bedroom, anyway.

Two bunk beds were on either side of the room, while a smaller, single bed rested against the wall opposite the door- right where a large window was. On one of the bunks, a Jolteon and Braixen slept while a Decidueye and Floatzel occupied the other bed.

The clock read nine in the morning. Not that it interested a certain Absol, anyway.

Angel stood by the window, gazing down at the cars and Pokémon passing down below.

The Dark-type took out a slip of paper she hid in her hoodie pockets.

"21:30. Draconicus Street, 22. Bring a 'wizard.'"

Angel walked over to the couch and took a seat as she remembered the previous night's events.

* * *

" _You want me to help you collect information?" The Absol queried._

" _Read further."_

" _Hm…"_

" _So… What do you think?"_

" _I'm in."_

" _That was easier than I thought." Russel chuckled. "Bridget, the reward."_

 _Seated with crossed legs, the Lopunny took a brown envelope from the messy desk and passed it to Angel. The Absol opened it to find a few thousand-Pokédollar bills._

" _I'll admit, you're very good at getting others to work for you." Angel remarked with the faintest hint of a smirk._

" _Thank you, merc." The Lucario detective replied. "Now, for the full, non-covert details. So you already know that Building 22 on Draconicus Street holds a basement full of illegal information that some of the city's officials use for personal interest and gain. They've already blackmailed quite a few citizens, and if this goes unchecked, they'll end up controlling Virtue City." The Aura Pokémon gijinka took a sip from his tea as he raised a brow to the Lopunny seated across his left._

" _Anyone who enters the city gets scanned for details through camera, voice, then a search is run against that data to find any files possible. And this also means that they can access some of Periculum's less secure files." Bridget continued._

" _Reward or not… I have my own interests in this." The Absol stated._

" _Good for us, then." Russel commented. "How good are you a hacker?"_

" _Basic." The Disaster Pokémon replied before taking a sip of her tea. "But I know someone who's good…"_

" _Then we're set. The digital security there is fairly strong, so I hope this 'wizard' of yours is as good as you believe."_

" _She is. Hacked into a hidden Periculum outpost's camera system and alarm system for fifteen minutes."_

" _Now I'm interested…" Bridget remarked as she sipped her tea._

" _Speaking covertly isn't your thing, is it?"_

" _No."_

" _Fair enough."_

" _Now, we'll need to do this at an hour they wouldn't expect it. 21:30 sound good?"_

" _That isn't…"_

" _Reverse, mercenary." Bridget stated. Angel paused momentarily then nodded._

" _Good. We'll meet up here before then, so be ready." The Absol mercenary nodded._

" _You should try speaking like we do." The Normal-type remarked as she sipped her tea. "It's good practice for when you need it."_

" _Hmph, I won't be doing it very often… But I will take it into consideration."_

" _If you need anything else, you know where to find us." Russel took a sip of his tea and nodded at the Absol. "Good evening, mercenary."_

" _Good evening, detective."_

* * *

"So let me get this straight." Taryn stated.

Angel had informed the Jolteon of today's events. At 9:30 in the morning, they were to be at Draconicus Street. Taryn would hack the building to get them access to the building and from there, the group would have to search for the master computer.

The rest of their team was to go around Virtue City as normal, eavesdropping and spreading a little news to those who would be on the side of the Resistance.

"You're asking me to break into a super tight security wall the size of a godamned skyscraper?"

"Yes."

* * *

Later on, at about noon in Virtue City…

Samantha was dazzled by the amount of stores that lined the city's streets. To her, it felt like the city itself was a mall. The Braixen explored jewelry stores, clothes stores, watch shops, gift shops, convenience stores, restaurants, and the like.

"I should have requested to come here sooner…" The Fire-type Fox Pokémon muttered. Like any other day, the city was lively with other gijinkas chatting about anything and everything.

"This looks niiiiiiiiiice~" Samantha walked into a store displaying all sorts of clothing. "I should so take the others here sometime!"

* * *

"Heh, nothing beats a walk in the park… I think that's what they say around here."

Oscar strolled around a large park next to a gigantic mall located in the center of the city. Thanks to the size of the park, the number of Pokémon gijinkas in the area wasn't the obscene amount in the busier streets. Instead, it was a pleasant amount of people enjoying their day and having picnics.

In the water, others were free to swim as long as they didn't make a mess. The rules around the area weren't as strict as the rest of the city would lead one to believe.

Above, bird Pokémon gijinkas were flying gracefully. The scene was completed by the numerous trees, lamp posts, benches, and lakes while a few small shops of stone and wood dotted the park.

"This actually isn't a bad place to live in." The Floatzel mused with a smile. "Still kinda wish I had my spear… But this will have to do."

"Hey, didja hear about the UC?"

"She's back in town, hell yeah."

"Now more matured and kicks more ass, apparently."

Oscar ignored the conversation of the Scrafty and Bisharp walking past him.

"The bad news is that the sewer system is running amok with killers."

"What?"

The Floatzel stopped in his tracks as he heard the words exit their mouths.

" _Guess the softdrink will have to wait…_ " The Water-type thought as he turned and began following them casually.

"Yeah, the guys who live down there and eat the garbage or something are murdering everything that moves except for themselves. Friend o' mine also said he saw a few of their own corpses just lying in pools of blood and poison stuff too."

"Yeesh, this gets harder and harder everyday. But that's weird- I don't know of any drug that does that."

" _I'll need to let Taryn know as soon as I see her._ "

* * *

"It feels good to be back."

A familiar owl archer let out a content sigh as he leaned back into a rather comfortable-looking chair and sipped coffee out of a cup.

"Ah, you left the city as well?" Nathan looked up from his coffee to see a woman with long bunny ears sticking from a brown fedora with a long brown trench coat underneath.

"Have we met?"

"We have, just now." The Lopunny gijinka replied. "You're Nathan?"

"Yes. Why?" The Normal-type nodded.

"How long have you been out of the city?"

"Six years… But who are you?" The Lopunny placed a gloved finger on her lip to tell him to keep quiet.

"A friend of yours pointed to you when I asked for someone with your type of expertise."

"Really? What was her species?"

"An Absol… Wearing a white baggy hoodie." The Normal-type in the trench coat replied.

" _Angel? What ties does she have to this woman?_ " Nathan thought to himself.

"When you finish that, follow me. We've got a little work to be doing."

"Hm… Alright." The Decidueye took another sip of his coffee.

* * *

"Quite early, considering you just arrived… So my apologies."

"It's cool. I just hope I don't get kicked out of this hack or something." Taryn muttered as she typed onto a keypad. "Still the wrong code…"

Behind her, Angel and Russel stood guard while a Tyrogue and Spoink gijinka lay on the floor out cold. Taryn and Angel wore ski masks over their heads while Russel had a skull mask on. Rather than their regular outfits, each of them wore a kind of armored business outfit with their color palettes and a few extra designs for their species. In Taryn's case, her coat ended in sharp spike-like designs around the bottom.

Taryn successfully (after about twenty minutes) managed to get the security cameras around the main building down. After that, they entered the building, hiding their armor and masks. Once the Jolteon hacker managed to get the general location of the master computer, they headed down the basement.

And of course, that was where their mission officially begun.

"We shouldn't… As long as you can keep the cameras down." Angel mused.

"They won't be able to recognize us like this." Russel. "But still, it would be best if we hurried this up."

The Jolteon continued the hack while Angel and Russel kept their guard up for anyone who'd go into the room.

"I got it." The Lightning Pokémon gijinka said. "Let's go."

The room the trio found themselves in was a small room filled to the brim with computers and wires. Inside, a lone figure sat on a chair, typing on a multitude of keys surrounding it.

"Hey, you found out what caused the camera jam?" The chair turned 180 degrees to reveal a man wearing a blue and yellow t-shirt over a pair of folded, insect-like wings. A helmet with a pair of mandibles pointing up rested itself on the man's head, and he wore navy blue cargo pants with a couple of extra insect legs attached to them. "Wait, who the hell are you people!?"

"Uh… Maybe we should have come with better disguises." Taryn stated nervously.

"Oh, hell nah, it ain't going down that way, pal." The Vikavolt gijinka stated as he stood up while electricity began crackling in his helmet. "You aren't supposed to know about this place, but now you do, you're going to have to die."

 **[Boss – Vikavolt]**

"Back out, quickly!" Taryn yelled as she stepped forward and absorbed a Thunderbolt thrown at the door. Angel and Russel did as commanded. Thanks to Volt Absorb, the move was rendered useless and the Absol and Lucario managed to back out.

"You aren't getting away!" The Vikavolt yelled as he charged forward and knocked Taryn out of the way. "Take this!"

Another Thunderbolt was thrown their way. Angel and Russel avoided the move once more while Taryn used the opportunity to move away from the Vikavolt.

Angel fired a Shadow Ball into the Vikavolt's body, eliciting a scream of pain from the Bug-type. Russel followed with a Quick Attack, stunning the Vikavolt for a moment.

The Stag Beetle Pokémon yelled and grabbed Russel with the jaws on his helmet before the Lucario could get away. The jaws crunched and threw the Lucario down to the ground.

Angel's scythe was the next thing the pincers caught. The Absol shook him off with a kick and leapt away before the Vikavolt could let loose another Thunderbolt.

Taryn fired a Shadow Ball at the Vikavolt, which he dodged. Using Agility, the Electric-type evaded a quick hit from the enemy.

Russel struck the Vikavolt from behind with a Force Palm, sending the Bug-type to the ground. However the Bug- and Electric-type let loose a Thunderbolt which the Lucario mostly evaded, except for his right arm which got struck.

"You're done." The Absol stated as a Night Slash from her horn connected with the enemy's body, making him let out a pained shout.

"No, I'm not!" The Vikavolt stood back up and knocked Angel back with his jaw helmet. Following that, he charged Russel with a Spark attack.

Russel stood straight and hardened his body with Iron Defense. The Spark connected but didn't do much thanks to the Lucario's momentary defense boost. This allowed Russel to quickly duck down and perform a Low Sweep, sending the Vikavolt to the floor once more.

Taryn shot a Stored Power at the opponent, causing the Vikavolt to let out a cry of agony.

"I've had enough of you faster Electric-types!" The Vikavolt yelled as he stood up and fired a blast of mud at Taryn.

"Wait, what!?"

Caught by surprise, the Jolteon gijinka couldn't dodge the move, resulting in pain, her back to the wall, and a lot of mud coating her body.

"Freeze…" Angel said as she shot an Ice Beam, countered by Thunderbolt. Russel instantly used another Force Palm, but without much effect.

"Vikavolt can learn Mud Shot... This sucks!" Taryn exclaimed as she stood back up.

"You're all going to die here!" A Spark attack was blocked by a Night Slash from Angel. The Absol parried the hit and managed to get a critical hit with a simple punch for the trouble.

"Let's wrap this up quick." Taryn said as she stood up and shot a Shadow Ball alongside Angel.

"I'm not dying here, bastards!" The opponent exclaimed. Much to the surprise of Angel and Taryn, the Vikavolt threw a gem into the air that cast a cobalt-colored shield around him, rendering the Ghost-type moves useless. "Now, take this!"

Thunderbolt dropped onto Angel, causing the Dark-type to grunt from the impact. Taryn sped forward to attack, the the opponent easily sidestepped and caught her in a Vicegrip attack.

" _That speed deduction is affecting her more than I thought._ " Russel thought as he analyzed the situation. Their opponent was persistent and pissed- resembling a wounded animal backed into a corner. Taryn's speed was cut by Mud Shot, Angel seemed to be lacking something in her step, and as for the Lucario…

Russel put his left hand to his right arm, now feeling the pain of the Thunderbolt earlier. Although the Vikavolt didn't know it, Russel was right handed- to put simply, all he would be able to do is tank physical blows with Iron Defense or speed around with a Quick Attack. And as obvious enough as it was, he would get hit by a Mud Shot too if their opponent was smart enough to know a Lucario's typing.

What worsened their situation was the fact that all of them relied primarily on speed to fight. Lucario, Absol, and Jolteon were not known for being defensive, and if their opponent could successfully Mud Shot all three of them, they'd be vulnerable to the Thunderbolts and in Taryn's case, Vicegrip.

And if they could not quiet down the fighting fast enough, they'd be found out and end up in a lot more trouble than they're already in.

Russel looked around the featureless room while Taryn and Angel fought in the background. It didn't seem like anything in there would be of use to him, and the only other things aside from the fight were the door leading out and the supposed master computer.

Unless…

"Angel, look out!"

"Hmph!"

Angel twirled in midair to dodge a blasto f mud from the Vikavolt's palms. The Stag Beetle Pokémon growled in frustration and charged himself into a Spark attack.

Taryn shot a few Stored Power orbs towards the opponent, but each hit only seemed to fuel his anger. When Angel touched down, she ducked and sent a punch upwards to the opponent before slicing at her target with her horn.

"Guh! Why won't you just die already!?" The Vikavolt yelled as he drew out a Potion to heal himself.

"Oh, come on! I knew I should've borrowed some Potions." Taryn remarked.

"No use whining. Find a way to get that mud off." Angel ordered before shooting an Ice Beam forwards.

The Vikavolt flared his wings and flew past the attack. He dropped down a Thunderbolt right where Angel stood, forcing the Dark-type to back away.

"I've got you!"

Another blast of electricity struck Angel as she dodged. The Absol shook off the attack and shot a few Shadow Balls before vanishing into a swarm of clones.

"COME ON!"

"Sorry, but that's my line!" Taryn retorted before letting loose a Shadow Ball at her opponent. The Vikavolt did not take that nicely and grunted as he flew back up to regain his balance.

"You should get out of my way already!"

The Viikavolt gijinka brought out a small device from his pocket and pushed a button, then adjusted a small stick on the strange device.

In the next moment, a few spots on the floor began glowing yellow.

"This is…" Angel mumbled as she remained cautious- she was surrounded by those yellow spots. But some of her clones were also standing directly over other spots around the room.

"Wait a minute… Angel!"

Too late.

Beams of electricity dropped down from the Vikavolt onto the yellow spots. Angel bit her lip to keep from making noise as the powerful attacks struck her.

But it wasn't the amount of Thunderbolts that made it hurt- it was the fact that they had more power than usual.

The blasts stopped, leaving a Vikavolt laughing maniacally and a damaged Angel.

"Crap… I should have figured he'd have that kind of trick!" Taryn exclaimed. "Angel, he's got a few things installed in the floor that power up electricity!"

" _Figures…_ " Angel pushed through the pain and sent a couple of Shadow Balls the Vikavolt's way to distract him before leaping into a Night Slash.

"Grr!"

A Mud Shot shot Angel down before she could land her attack, sending her to the ground covered in mud.

"Now, let's finish you off!"

Taryn, realizing what was coming next, began moving towards her friend.

Yellow spots began forming once more around the floor, with four of them focused around the spot Angel sat on. The Absol clenched her teeth, knowing she wouldn't be able to dodge.

"I've got you!"

With only a second to spare, Taryn managed to get over Angel, effectively shielding her from the effects of the powered up Thunderbolts. Angel blinked in surprise for a moment before sharpening her gaze to shoot an Ice Beam through the electric beams to the Vikavolt.

The Bug-type groaned as the cold beam struck him. When he opened his eyes once more to face his opponents, he found a certain Eeveelution in front of him with a pair of clawed knuckles aimed for his face.

"Hiya."

The Vikavolt stumbled back in the air as a punch connected with his face. A drop of blood oozed out from one of the scratches left behind by the blow,

"Why you little!"

Another Mud Shot came hurling towards Taryn. She screamed in pain as the super-effective attack struck her down.

"Now, with you out of the way, I can do this!"

Thunderbolt indicators spread across the room once more. Angel was once again, surrounded by the indicators. In the next second, she'd take another fierce blow. While it wouldn't be enough to take her down, she'd likely be paralyzed in the next hit, and that would be their defeat.

Then the white gijinka remembered one detail.

" _The detective…_ "

Angel didn't have the time to think. The Vikavolt laughed maniacally as he let loose multiple Thunderbolts, which went straight for the spots…

…Only to find that they acted as lightning rods and left Angel unharmed.

"Wait… What?" The Vikavolt mumbled.

Taryn got up with a groan, looking around.

"This is…"

"I've got you covered. Now, let's get rid of him!" Russel exclaimed as he stepped out of the computer room.

"You! How dare you toy with MY electric sensors!" The Stag Beetle Boss roared. He charged himself in a Spark attack and began flying for the Lucario.

"Too slow."

Russel used a Quick Attack to meet the opponent head on, then turned at the last second to land a kick onto the Bug-type's back.

Seconds later, a pair of Shadow Balls stunned the Vikavolt, keeping him from flying straight. The Bug-type turned to let loose a fierce Thunderbolt at the attacker.

"You fell for it…!"

The Boss enemy widened his eyes as he found that his attack charged with his anger had not only healed his target, but cleared the mud off as well.

"Now, I think I'll be getting myself some much needed revenge." Taryn stated before zipping up to him in a flash before sending a flurry of swipes and scratches at the Vikavolt.

"Merc, finish it!" Russel exclaimed.

Angel nodded and focused her power into a small, white orb of ultracold energy.

"I'll need you to stay put for a while…" Angel mumbled before shooting a beam out of the orb towards the Bug- and Electric-type. With a scream of pain, the opponent flew towards the fall, coated in ice and a little of his own blood.

Before the Vikavolt could do anything, Angel froze his head as well.

"It's… Over." Taryn sighed and wiped her brow. "Geez, that was sticky! Do not want to fight that guy again."

"Hmph…" Angel busied herself clearing some of the grime off her.

"Ah, Russel, are you alright?" Taryn asked.

"I will be… He just crippled my right arm." The Lucario gijinka responded. "It should heal within a few minutes, thanks to the Potion I found in that room."

"Hah! He even forgot to bring his Potion." Taryn laughed. "Now how do we hide these guys?"

"I'll handle that." The group turned to see a figure in a brown jumpsuit with cream metal armor plates. The helmet on her head hid her identity, but Russel nodded at her.

"C. Have you secured overwatch?" The Lucario gijinka asked.

"He's on the opposite building, watching the surface with scopes." Bridget, the figure, replied.

"Good." Russel said as he nodded at his partner and followed Angel into the room.

* * *

"That's a lot of agents…" Nathan mused as he eyed the surrounding area from a balcony with the use of binoculars. Below, a bunch of Pokémon gijinkas wearing formal black jackets over their regular attire were seen heading into the building to trap the Arrow Quill Pokémon's allies.

Nathan pulled up his phone and began dialing a number.

It was answered by an annoyed girl's voice mumbling about dirt.

"Nathan? What?"

"You sound like you're having a bad day." The owl archer commented. "Taryn, you've got an entire squadron of agents heading for you right now. Whatever it is you're doing down there, hurry it up."

"Ohh, crap... Got it, thanks." Nathan hung up and kept a watchful eye on the chaos beginning on the street below.

The city folk began to leave the area, while the bulkier agents were setting up roadblocks in the area. On the other skyscrapers, snipers and archers were positioning themselves on the rooftops of lower buildings and other elevated zones.

"If only I was as good a hacker as Taryn, I might be able to get into their radio…" The Grass- and Ghost- type mumbled.

* * *

"Huh?"

Samantha stopped as she passed by an electronics store. A TV behind the glass was depicting a part of the city where multiple agents swarmed a building alongside a few cops.

"What is going on over there…?" The Braixen quietly asked.

"Apparently, there was a break in." The Fox Pokémon gijinka turned to see a Nidorino gijinka standing behind her. "The big office building on Draconicus Street is being raided, civvies are getting evac'd, and the feds are going after the perpetrators." The Poison-type explained.

"Huh…"

"Well, we're far enough from the action, so we should be safe here." The Nidorina stated as he began walking away.

" _I sure hope that isn't what I think it is._ "

* * *

"Look OUT!"

A Shadow Ball exploded by contact from a Thunderbolt blasted away the Pokémon at the front door. As a Mightyena tried to get through the smoke, he was pushed away and paralyzed by a Force Palm.

"This isn't my style… So we'll need to do this quickly." Russel quietly said. Angel shot another Shadow Ball at the door.

"I'm working on it!" Taryn stated as she went back to moving all the files in the computer room to her USB.

"We'll keep you covered." Bridget said as she uppercut an incoming Croagunk before twirling around to land a full force Ice Punch onto a Shiftry that appeared behind her.

Russel's fists found themselves in the face of a Rhydon who charged through. The Lucario backed off and ducked to avoid a Crush Claw from the Drill Pokémon and used Low Sweep to knock him on the floor.

Angel sliced through a Kadabra and a Kricketune with a series of fast swipes from her ear scythe and tail. The Absol blocked a strike from a Whiscash's axe with her horn, and parried the hit before freezing the Water- and Ground-type with an Ice Beam.

"Five minutes!" Taryn yelled out through the fighting.

"BS, nothing takes five minutes…" Russel mused as he used Quick Attack to evade a Razor Leaf attack and rush into a Sneasel also using Quick Attack.

"H, back away from there!" Bridget yelled and pulled out a grenade. The Lucario glanced at her and used a Force Palm to free himself from the Sneasel trying to claw him to death.

As the Aura gijinka was about to escape, the Rhydon from earlier roared and threw his fist down towards the Lucario. However, it was stopped cold by Angel's Ice Beam.

The duo exchanged glances and fell back, leaving the opponents opened wide for a small rock.

"GRENADE!"

"Merc, use Shadow Ball on the ceiling above the explosion!" The Lopunny ordered. The Absol did as told and prepared to fire an orb of ghostly energy at the entrance.

Right as the explosive detonated, the Shadow Ball connected with the desired target. Instantly, the ceiling above crumbled down and blocked the entrance.

"Good show there, ladies." Russel remarked.

"Hmph."

"Transfer complete?" Bridget asked as Taryn walked over.

"Almost... Deleted all their own files and even busted their systems. They won't be doing this again for a long time." Taryn stated.

"Good. Let's find a way out of here, then."

"I've got the building's full layout with me." Everyone turned to face the Jolteon. "Since you guys decided it was smart to block off the only exit, we're going to the sewers.

"This place should have parachutes. We can skydive." Bridget stated. Taryn put on a deadpan and looked at the map.

"If you feel like fighting through this building to the sixty-eighth floor, be my guest. And that's assuming we can even get the parachutes from every cop in the city."

"Sewer."

* * *

" _Where are you right now?_ " Nathan's voice quizzed over the cellphone.

"About to head into the dark side of the sewer system. We'll lose comms in like, a few more feet." Taryn replied.

" _Great. So the agents and cops outside are still trying to find a way to get back in, while some of the stronger-looking agents are conversing by an armored limousine with a turret. And as you've suspected, you've got people breaching into the upper floors with Flying-types and helicopters. Put simply, you have an army after you._ "

"That sounds like a bit much, don't you think?" Taryn queried.

" _I know. But right now, the whole area is under lockdown, and the rest of the city is practically oblivious to the action over here._ " The owl archer stated.

"Gotcha. Nathan, losing comms, right now. See ya on the flip side."

" _Copy._ "

"So why is this place referred to as 'the dark side' of the sewers?" Russel queried.

"Oh, that's because this is where it reeks the most, and uh… Creepy stuff, I guess. Nobody goes here, not even the Poision-types who eat the gunk around the sewer system." The Lightning Pokémon explained. "Even I knew to avoid the place dreaded by the drug and crime lords."

"You worked with drug lords and crime lords?" Bridget asked.

"Kind of?" Taryn started. "I did a few underground odd jobs in my teenager days and got a little popular with the underground folk- criminals, drug dealers, gangs, and even some of the shady businessmen in the main city."

"Interesting." Russel remarked. "But I don't see how that connects with your hacking ability."

"Oh, that. Well, let me continue, then." Taryn replied. "I ended up being dubbed 'The Underground Current,' since I could run nearly any small item between Virtue City and the Slums in under a few hours. That led to me being all tech-y when I nearly got caught in the city."

"Hm. Go on."

"When I found out the cops were going to get to me, I had to run into a small building. And bingo, it was the one with their camera, spotlight, and turret system."

True to her word, some sectors of the walls of Virtue City were guarded by miniature outposts armed lightly. Due to the city's size and military force (the police and the agencies), not many ever attempted anything funny at those gates, save for characters like Taryn.

"So when I got in there, I thought of just breaking the whole thing since I didn't know how to use it. Then I remembered reading somewhere that it would be better to just turn it off… But curiosity got the better of me when I saw that a bunch of turrets aiming for me stood between me and them. I decided to point their own guns at them, and the rest is history."

"Were they killed?" Russel queried.

"Uh, no. I went through the trouble not to. Had the things give me cover for a minute. I don't think those guys would have gotten killed in one minute of turret fire." Taryn smirked. "Those things are weak anyway."

Shortly after Taryn's story, the group fell into silence as they walked further into the so called "dark side" of the sewers.

Taryn wasn't exaggerating.

A smell that would put a regular sewer to shame assaulted everyone's nostrils. The place was considerably darker as well, as what lights were running were dimmed or flickering.

The group of four did their best to ignore the horrid smell. To give them respite, they headed into "safe zones" which were small, somewhat-ventilated, run-down rooms inside the sewer system.

"I see why this place is so avoided now…" Bridget mused.

"It'll take a long bath to get rid of _this_ stench." Russel remarked.

"You think you have it bad? Some of the mud from that guy is STILL stuck to my clothes." Taryn stated. "And my typing makes it much worse!"

"Talk less, save more air." Angel interjected. The group all acknowledged her and kept their mouths shut and noses still as well, at least until they reached another door.

Like the other rooms, this one was poorly decorated with abandoned furniture. A few chairs, a small table, a couple of cabinets, and a bed.

"Who would sleep down here?"

"Beats me."

"Wait." The group turned to Angel. "Hold still… Listen."

The sound of moving in water could be heard outside the door. Wet footsteps sounded on the sticky concrete outside, and to finish it, a very low and dark groan echoed from behind the door.

Angel glanced at her allies. Russel and Bridget were as professional as ever, while Taryn had a horrified look on her face.

After the sounds died out and no more noise could be heard outside, the team let out a sigh of relief.

"What was that?" Russel quizzed quietly.

"I have no idea." Taryn replied. "I told you, creepy stuff… And nobody is stupid enough to be a dick down here. It's an agreement the underground made for this area."

"Then we need to leave at once." Angel said. " _If the Underground truly fears this place, then that groan…_ "

"The only problem with that is we're in the thick of the dark side, I don't know the way around here, and there isn't any other way out of the building we left."

"Well, the chances here are still better than falling off a 68-story building." Russel commented. "Bridget, mind checking the coast?"

"On it." The Lopunny closed her eyes and her long rabbit ears twitched a couple of times. "No movement coming from outside. We can move out now."

Angel slowly opened the door so as not to make any noise. The Absol mercenary peered outside and gave her team a nod before walking out silently. The trio still inside exchanged a nod and followed Angel out of the room.

Before them, footprints of reddish sludge coated the floor. The trash and gunk in the water was pushed aside, as if something large came through there.

"…On second thought, maybe we can still turn back and go skydiving?" Taryn said with a gulp.

"Too late." Russel replied.

"Dammit… There goes that try."

The group silently walked forward with Russel leading the way. When they came to an intersection, the Lucario motioned for them to stop by raising a fist. Silently, the Lucario opened his fist and motioned it forward twice. The other three followed the order and came up behind him in a line.

The Lucario detective peered past the corner. There, a lone figure stood in the mud and waste, its back turned to the Lucario. The figure's purple clothes were torn and slimy, while its body was coated in purplish slime and gunk. Its breathing was evident by the motion its back was making, and the stench it emitted overpowered the natural scent in the sewer.

"Muk. He doesn't seem happy." Russel whispered and put a pointer to his mouth to silence his allies. The three girls nodded and awaited further command.

A low groan came from the path the Muk stood in. Russel peered once more to see the Muk was walking further down the stream of trash and waste.

Russel turned back to the others and motioned with a couple of forward waves with an open palm again. The group moved up into the next path, trying to hold their breaths for as long as possible.

"Open door." Russel said. The team walked in and closed the door silently behind them. What they saw inside definitely surprised them.

In front of them lay a couple of Grimer gijinkas, both coated in not just gunk but a dried pool of blood as well. Terrible wounds covered their bodies and one was even missing an arm.

"Oh, Arceus… I'm officially scared for my life now." Taryn whimpered.

"Hmph… They died a day ago." Angel said as she bent down to examine the corpses. "The wounds are brutal… No regular Pokémon would do something like this."

"Are you suggesting…" Taryn trailed off.

"What is it?"

"…Shadow Pokémon."

* * *

"I wonder how the others are doing…" Oscar said as he tossed an empty soda can into a trash can and continued walking down the street.

"Hey, Oscar!" The Floatzel looked to the source of the familiar voice. Before him stood a rather tired Nathan.

"You look like you've been through hell." The Water-type remarked.

"Not as much as the others. Where's Samantha?"

"At the mall, right? There was a huge mall next to the park, she should be there, knowing her." The Sea Weasel Pokémon replied. "But what do you mean 'not as much as the others?"

"Listen closely…" Nathan whispered and looked around. "They're the ones who pulled off the stunt nearby. They're in the "dark side" of the sewers or something, trying to find a way out. No comms available for them down there, and we've got every agent in the city looking for them." The Decidueye explained.

"Wait, they're in the sewers?"

"Shh!"

"No, what worries me is that there are _killers_ in there." The Floatzel quietly replied.

"What?"

"Ruthless, merciless, brutal killers, Nathan. The kind that makes you wish real life was a horror movie." Oscar stated. As Nathan was processing this, the Water-type continued. "And based off the descriptions I got from others… Angel and Taryn might end up seeing a few people we really don't want to fight."

"That's… We need to find Samantha. Now."

* * *

A small group of Grimer and Trubbish covered in blood, entrails, gunk, and waste passed through the corridor. In the shadows, Angel, Bridget, Taryn, and Russel all remained unmoving, waiting for their chance to move.

Once the enemies passed, the group stepped out and took a quick breath.

"Air…" Taryn mumbled as she held back a cough.

"How much longer do you think we'll be down here?"

"I don't know, keep moving."

The group pressed on, entering safe rooms whenever they could and even collecting a few empty bottles to fill with cleaner air than outside. To deal with the lids, they used a few tissues Bridget had with her from the café.

"Wait." Bridget said. The other three all stood still. "Hide." The group once again stuck to the murky walls where the darkness hid their presence from sight. A Garbodor with an emotionless look and blood on his face slowly trekked through the trash bags and wastes in the water, licking his chops.

In the distance, a scream was heard. The Garbodor then turned and began to twitch. With a blood curdling roar, the Poison-type dashed through the sewer to the source of the scream.

Bridget stuck her hand out of the shadow and gave the crew a thumbs up, causing all of them to step back onto the path.

"Looks like we're not the only ones here."

"Why would there be Shadow Pokémon here?" Taryn asked.

"The real question is how they got here." Angel replied. "Forward. The source of the scream may have come from the main sewer system."

"Good point."

* * *

"NO! PLEASE! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The four exchanged glances and looked around before continuing onwards. They came to another intersection with only three paths- one ahead, one they came from, and one to the right.

Sounds of pure agony and torture came from the right side. Taryn gulped and nodded as she stepped forward silently and peeked through.

"There's a grate right here… And I don't like what's on the other side…" Taryn stepped in the middle of the intersection. The other three came next to her and looked down the blocked path.

Before them, the Garbodor from earlier was tearing apart a Grimer gijinka limb from limb (literally) as blood poured from the nasty wounds and the missing limbs.

A few more Trubbish and Grimer appeared on the scene and began aiding the Garbodor in destroying the body. One even started eating the corpse.

Taryn coughed once at the sight. The Shadow Poison-types at the other side of the grate all stopped and convulsed before turning towards the group protected by the grate.

"Oh, shit."

The gijinkas on the other side let out roars and shouts of fury and charged the grate with all their might. Thankfully, the grate held strong. The scene gave the look of zombies trying to get to a lost group of survivors.

"We need to get out of here before we get flanked, or worse."

"Agreed."

* * *

The heist crew all stayed inside a room, collecting their thoughts, strategizing, but most of all, breathing. Outside, the sound of breaking bones and tearing flesh could be heard.

"I guess these guys tried to hide here since even their species never goes here." The Jolteon remarked.

"I'm afraid there isn't much we can do for them." Russel quietly mused.

A sudden bang on the door caught their attention, and the group readied themselves for a fight. No more noise came from the door and after a while the group relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief once more.

"This place is the definition of the word nightmare." Taryn stated.

"We're clear, let's go." Bridget said and left the room with a bottle of air.

In front of them lay a few dead bodies of Grimer and Trubbish, half eaten by the monsters that attacked them. The group paid no heed to them and kept moving…

…Unaware that one of the bodies moved.

"How much further do you think until we get out of here?" Bridget queried.

"Right now." Taryn said with a glimmer of hope in her voice as the intersection ahead had a path leading to a stronger door that seemed unlike the ones they had passed. "Come on!"

As the group neared the intersection, a groan from behind them caught their attention.

"Don't mind it, keep moving!" Russel yelled. Behind them, a Trubbish gijinka was running at them with a few more figures in the distance of the path they came from.

A roar from their left caught their attention. A Muk was standing on the left path in the intersection, ready to throw a large punch. Angel leapt to avoid the hit and continued forward towards the door.

"Open the damn door!"

A Shadow Ball from Angel blasted the door, but failed to open it. Russel drew a M1911.45 handgun and shot the hinges of the door before kicking it down, allowing the group to escape. Taryn headed out first.

"Uh, guys…?" Taryn paused. The group entered a large, open room with a path that led to a brighter side of the sewer system. But standing in their way was a large group of Muk, Garbodor, Grimer, and Trubbish, all looking at them with empty looks.

The group stepped forward to back away from the enemies pouring out of the door from whence they came. They all put their backs to one another and prepared for a fight to the death.

"Alright, bring it…" The Lightning Pokémon gijinka mused.

"GET DOWN, NOW!" The Jolteon widened her eyes and pushed her teammates down to the ground before ducking herself. Instantly, a barrage of burning arrows followed by a massive boulder took down the front enemies.

"Backup just arrived!" Oscar yelled as he shot a Water Pulse at a Muk about to fire a Sludge Bomb at the four in the middle, stunning the opponent as it became confused.

"Let's move!" Russel commanded.

"How did you find us?" Taryn quizzed as she and her group reunited with the other three.

"Some drug dealers we asked." Samantha said. "This ruined my shopping spree, so let's make this hurt." The Fox Pokémon said, earning a dry chuckle out of Taryn.

"After all the trouble we went convincing the others, yes. Most certainly."

"You have reliable friends." Russel remarked. Angel spared the detective a sideways glance before returning her attention to the battlefield.

"Hey, this could be our chance to bring one of them over to HQ." Nathan suggested.

"Doubtful." Russel remarked. "It will be nearly impossible to bring anyone of them out of the city's bounds without making any commotions."

"So we'll just have to escape them for now." Angel said.

"Quick, this way." Nathan ordered. "We've got some friendly gijinkas getting ready to throw down a grate to seal these guys in!"

The Garbodor and Muk fired Gunk Shots and Sludge Bombs at the party while the Grimer and Trubbish horde began charging them at full speed. Oscar fired a Water Pulse which Angel froze immediately to impede the runners while Samantha kept back the Poison move barrage away with Flamethrowers and Psybeams.

Nathan instantly cast a Haze and began shooting Razor Leaves into the smoke. Bridget popped another grenade and hurled it into the smoke, causing a few corpses to come raining out of the smoke.

"Hey, over here!" a Raticate yelled.

"Go, go, go!" a Swoobat gijinka yelled as his psychic power aided a Machoke and a Lairon holding a large grate.

Once the main cast and the detective duo passed, the three Pokémon threw down the large grate. The Raticate whipped out a blowtorch and began sealing it with the aid of the Machoke's strength to hold the grate in place through the attacks of the Poison-types, the Swoobat's Psychic, and the Lairon's ability to reinforce the steel.

"Alright, it's done!"

"Ah, my hands… Dammit."

"We'll deal with that when we get out of here!"

* * *

"Thank you for your aid, mercenary." Russel said as he adjusted his fedora. The group was now standing just outside the detective's building under the setting sun. "We'll hand you the details tomorrow in the afternoon, so be sure to stop by then."

The Absol nodded. Her Resistance allies all gave their approvals and goodbyes for the day before heading back towards Prism Hotel.

"Ugh, this stench isn't going to go away so easily." Taryn mumbled.

"Going to be a long freaking night." Nathan remarked.

As they walked down the streets, passerby gijinkas glanced at them, probably due to how much they smelled- particularly Angel and Taryn. Despite that, though, they didn't seem to mind.

Because they were too busy thinking about other things.

In the case of the four original team members, they couldn't help but think about how Shadow Pokemon got into the sewer system. But in Angel's case, it was more than that.

" _We've only two more missions before we part ways._ " Angel mused internally. " _And in that time, I need to figure out Periculum's true motives and what the Resistance intends to do..._ " Angel looked up to the dark night sky. " _Perhaps, in these two missions I will get the data I need._ "

The white-clad girl clenched her fist.

" _To save her._ "

* * *

 _I like how I said I would rewrite this chapter "soon" when it was uploaded. Look how much time has passed… Only a day or so. Muehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe_

 _So the major touches are on the Boss battle here. Made it longer and more detailed. I'll be working on Chapter 7 rewrite and Chapter 21 at the same time now. Though my workload increased, it doesn't seem to be much I won't be able to handle now that I actually got my butt up and started it._

 _Reading through the old chapters again in my spare time at school… At least, whenever I'm not studying, drawing, or watching anime. :P All the little details like where these Shadow Pokémon came from, why they behave like zombies, and why they don't have things like Shadow Rush and Shadow Wave will be answered probably in Chapter Twenty One or so. And this time, I'll make sure of that, huehue_

 _Was pretty scared editing this, though. I honestly thought that I ended up giving Angel her sword even though she left it in the Resistance._

 _Speaking of which, I'll be adding a new scene to Chapter seven with regards to that. It'll give you one more thing to think about in this story, hehe._


	7. C7 - Periculum's Big Plan

Shadows in War, Segment One, Chapter Seven – Periculum's Big Plan

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Hey, thanks for bearing with all this xD Being new kinda sucks._

 _ **Disclaimer**_ : _I in no way have anything to do with Game Freak and Nintendo. I just play their Pokémon games, write this fanfic, and complain about the lack of remakes for XD, Emerald, and Platinum. That, and the inability to view starter IVs at the start of USUM._

 _Ah, one more thing I would have said last chapter if I wasn't so rushed by life: Shout out to Lunarmist45 for the favorite and follow. I really do appreciate that. Knowing that a few other people are starting to read this makes me happy… Arceus, that sounded bland. But I'll have to step up my writing and my memory (because let's just admit that I suck in that department) to make this thing better. You know, for everyone reading._

 _Oh yeah, you get to have a cookie if you can get the reference three horizontal lines below this sentence. No, really._

* * *

"Tobias, we're sending you the data right now." Taryn said.

"Gotcha. Good work out there, everyone." The Flygon's voice replied.

The group was on a video call with Tobias, the absolute top of the Resistance Leaders.

"We really owe thanks to the city detective for actually giving us this heist." Nathan mused.

"And the guys who saved our lives from a horde of Shadow Pokémon in the sewers." Oscar added.

"Yeah. I never knew little Taryn here was THAT Underground Current."

"Ehehe…"

"Alright. Since you all have the time, go ahead and enjoy yourselves in the city. Consider it your reward for all that trouble."

"You mean it?"

"YES! Thank you, Master Tobias!"

"No probbz. I'll look through the info later and do a briefing once everyone returns to HQ. Right now, I've got a few errands to run, so I'll drop the call. Enjoy your stay in Virtue City, my friends." And with that, the Flygon's window on the monitor vanished. The team all looked at each other with smiles (except Angel) and all did a fist bump.

"Now I can finally go on my shop-til-you-drop spree!" Samantha said.

"Heh, the things we can do…" Oscar mused.

"It is good to be back." Nathan remarked.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'll be seeing some old acquaintances. Gotta pay 'em back for yesterday, y'know?"

"Hey, Angel, what will you do?" Oscar asked.

"Hm… _I can't leave the city… But perhaps there are some interesting employers around here, much like Russel._ " The Absol thought. "None of your business."

"Eh, alright."

"Well team, our one week break starts now!"

* * *

The faintest of grunts escaped Angel's lips as she grabbed onto a horizontal pole and used the momentum to swing herself onto another rooftop.

The Absol dashed forward and leapt to her left to avoid the wall. Angel landed onto the glass lightly and continued running forwards.

The Pokémon working in the office below paid no attention to the shadow of the mercenary running across the glass skylights. Angel spared them a glance- the gijinkas were typing away on keyboards, clicking on links, phoning friends, and in one case, visiting the dark side of the internet.

Angel jumped as high as she could off the skyscraper. The streets below were the size of a small candy or a bar of chocolate from the Dark-type's height. With eyes closed, the protagonist shot forward to grab onto a railing up ahead.

She was now on top of a tower that pierced the clouds. The air was thinner than down below but that was compensated for by the view the place provided.

Virtue City was a city of lights, day and night. The tall buildings decorated every corner of the city. Where there were no buildings were streets, save for the Virtue City Park in the center.

From above, the park was actually rather large. A third of the space was reserved for an untouched piece of nature existing on the edge of the park where a wall separated the forest from the busy road across.

Angel took a deep breath and looked up. Her altitude allowed for her to see the stars clearly. The sun's glare was stopped by the rest of the tower behind the Absol, allowing her to see the space above without any interference.

Angel looked up into the sky above her wistfully. A faint breeze brushed her pure white hair. Her usually piercing red eyes were filled with a mixture of emotions normally hidden under the figurative disguise donned by the mercenary.

"No matter how far apart we are, we still share the same sky, the same stars…" The Disaster Pokémon gijinka mused to herself. A small teardrop fell to her feet as she trailed off.

Even after living like this for years, it was still hard. Perhaps it was by the grace of Arceus, or through the willpower bestowed by the deity Azelf that she had managed to remain sane her whole life.

"…I will definitely come back for you… I promised."

The tears fell to her feet as she sniffed.

* * *

"Nom~"

Samantha, Taryn, Nathan, and Oscar each dug in happily into their food. The restaurant was almost bar-themed with brick and oak wood walls. An actual bar was placed into a corner of the area, while the counter with the kitchen behind it was on the opposite side of the room. Three flatscreen TVs were stationed on the walls for all to see. The restaurant's mascot was a Clawitzer gijinka holding up a sword to the name "Jerry's Grills."

"Seafood is always the best!" Oscar commented as he took a bite out of sizzling fish.

"You got me here…" Taryn added. "What was this one called again?"

"Sizzling _bangus_ , something like that."

"Doesn't sound like the usual thing you'd hear." Nathan remarked. "Maybe it's imported?"

"Whatever, it's great!"

"All those battles were so worth this~" Samantha said as she took a spoonful of crab rice.

"Hey, don't stuff yourself too much. We're headed to the theater afterwards." Nathan said.

"I know, but this is just soooo goooood~" Samantha replied as she dug into her plate.

"Well, she IS a fox after all." Oscar remarked slyly.

"What was that, weasel?" The Braixen replied with a glare.

"I just said you're a fox. Why?" The Water-type responded with a smirk.

"Foxes are NOT gluttons, Oscar."

"Meh…" The group shared a laugh before later heading to the theater.

* * *

"Welcome back to the Prism Hotel."

Angel nodded at the guard and walked into an elevator, keeping her hands in her hoodie pockets.

Once the doors opened again, the Absol walked down a long corridor to reach the room she and her team stayed in.

Angel looked around before closing the door behind her and locking it.

" _Good thing they gave me a set of my own keys_."

The Absol walked over to the computer with Taryn's USB plugged in. It was still on, and the data transfer completed while the group was out.

"Let's see what we have…"

Angel sat down on the chair before the monitor and began searching through the files. Most were about Virtue City, the surrounding area, and miscellaneous intelligence the agents gathered.

She kept scrolling until she reached a folder titled "P." Opening it revealed letters, formal statements, and even research data.

Periculum's files.

"Hmph."

Three hours passed and the Absol was still reading through the Periculum information on the USB. She skipped whatever didn't appear useful to her or had little value.

The Absol opened a new letter and began to read through it, like the rest.

 _Dear President,_

 _The perfection of our beloved Project Shadow is at hand. Records and information I have compiled and collected has showed us we are ready for a full-scale war with the support of trained Shadow Pokémon. Given a few more weeks, the force of our Shadow Pokémon will be enough for them alone to take down an entire Resistance base, of course, according to the estimates we have from visible defenses._

 _Now, Projects T and my own Project F have been going well so far. I do hope that the experiments and studies on your end have had similar success. According my observations in the East labs, the units from your second project will be enough to threaten even the Legendary Pokémon themselves in a one-on-one battle._

 _As always, should you have any objectives or any other group requiring my assistance, do not hesitate to say so. I am ready at any time, my Master._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Subject F-S_

Angel widened her eyes and instantly ran a search for the initials seen in the letter. She checked the date this letter was made- about a month ago.

"No…"

The Absol read through letter after letter, file after file. Files mentioned that the Periculum President apparently had a "right-hand Pokémon" or a "personal assistant."

"It can't be…" The mercenary mused. She read through another letter detailing secret expeditions to many caverns and mountains located throughout Driasia. Most of them were not fruitful, but the few that were worried the Absol even more.

"Unown writings…" The Absol mused. "COMPLETE THE TRIALS? And… THE LO…D GIR…NA'S …LD SHALL OPEN." Angel searched for other letters and read through them.

 _Mister President,_

 _We've discovered plenty of Unown writings that pertain to our goal. Once enough research has been completed, we will perform the trials found across Driasia. Hopefully, we will not be disturbed by the many Pokémon living in this country, as despite how secretive this project is, we find it difficult to be able to conduct research in the caverns. However, we have found enough to confirm your theory. The power of a Shadow Legendary Pokémon will allow us to dominate the world with impunity. With you, your assistant, and enough power, we will be able to open the path to the "other side" and gain the "blessing," if you will, of the Legendary forgotten to even the myths of the time of Mew's species._

"That's…" Angel skipped to another letter.

… _Your assistant, Subject F, did very well in subduing the Guardian here in the southeast. Her supervision is also much appreciated, and she knows where to look. We could not thank you enough for lending us the opportunity to borrow her power and knowledge._

"No… No…" Angel quietly mumbled. "This… This is bad." The sound of keys jingling and plenty of footsteps nearly made the mercenary jump in shock. Angel quickly closed all the files and erased history before putting the PC into sleep mode. Quickly, she dashed to the bathroom in the corridor and shut the door silently and locked it.

The main door to the flat came open as the main cast walked in. The group all put down two bags each onto the table of varying contents and all took a sigh.

"Oh hey, the transfer to HQ is probably done." Taryn said as she walked over to the computer. "Yep. All good."

"All that's left to do is wait for Tobias to recall us back." Nathan said.

"But until then, we're on vacation~" Samantha mused.

"I'll go handle the kitchen stuff, I guess." Oscar said.

"Not without me." The Braixen stated with a deadpan. "I can't have the kitchen getting covered in paste. Again." Taryn chuckled nervously while the two guys smiled wryly at the memory of Taryn's epic fail a few days ago.

"Looks like our little job yesterday is totally over." The Lightning Pokémon gijinka said. "News around the city says they've stopped looking for the escaped criminals since they went into the dark side of the sewer system where they probably died of the stench."

"Yay, we don't need to worry anymore about being hunted down!" A certain Fox gijinka said as she disappeared into the hallway corner with Oscar following her.

"Hey, Taryn, I'll go help the other two out." The Arrow Quill Pokémon said.

"Go nuts. I'll see what's the latest on TV." With a nod, Nathan went down the hallway to the kitchen to help Samantha and Oscar arrange the items they bought for the kitchen, mostly food.

The Jolteon in the room sat down on one of the three long couches and sighed in content as she relaxed herself. She picked up the remote on the coffee table before her and switched on the 55-inch TV.

"Hm… Nothing interesting." The sound of a thick, wooden door caught the Electric-type's attention.

From the hallway bathroom, Angel appeared looking as indifferent as ever. Taryn waved a "hi" to the mercenary, who gave her a nod in reply.

"Where have you been?"

"Why is that your business?"

"Just asking." The yellow gijinka replied. "Hey, can I ask a better question?"

"Hm?"

"Do you actually dislike us?"

"The answer is a no." Angel replied. "It's just how I am."

"I can't imagine what happened to you that you became like that."

"Neither can I."

Taryn paused and stared Angel down for a few moments.

"Uh… Okay."

"And here on the Virtue News, the famous singer Cindy Dixon."

On the screen, a woman standing at 5'8 took the microphone. She was wearing a long gray dress underneath a thick, long, and white scarf that wrapped around her upper body. The woman wore a gray straw hat that went well with her gray hair, and wore gray pumps below.

The Cinccino gijinka opened her mouth to speak.

"Be not alarmed by the attack- the perpetrators do not seem to be in the city anymore. While their motives remain unknown, we can confirm that the enemy is of a neutral party, and that nothing of serious damage was done to any of us."

"Heh, if only they knew what those agents were trying so hard to kill us for." The Jolteon remarked.

"And of course, to those of my _most loyal_ of followers, I've plans for _three_ songs in a new album I'm thinking of, named _Eclipse_."

"Hey! No advertising here on the news!"

With that, the Cinccino was moved away from the camera (said singer trying to talk to the fans all the while) while the news carried on to uninteresting topics.

"Hey, that kinda sounds interesting." Taryn remarked. "Why don't you tag along?"

"Hm…?" Angel raised a brow.

"Cindy is basically an idol on the outside. But what she was talking about was a party at the Trinity Eclipse."

Angel paused for a moment to think about the Cinccino's words. With a nod, she opened her mouth.

"As you wish, then."

"Trying to say you want to go?" The Electric-type gijinka asked with a smug look.

"No. But I don't oppose the idea." Angel replied simply.

"Sweet. Go let the others know while I try to grab the details." Taryn walked over to the computer and opened a browsing tab.

Angel turned her gaze away from the Jolteon and took to the hallway. She stopped when she saw a certain Floatzel leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"That's Taryn for you." Oscar remarked. "She might seem like a stereotype, but she actually isn't. Cindy, that singer on TV, isn't one for most of the other contemporary songs."

"Hm."

"Well, I'm in." The orange and cream gijinka stated. "Why don'tcha go see the other two?"

* * *

"Trinity Eclipse?" Samantha queried.

"Yep. You guys interested? Angel, Oscar, and I are going."

"Huh… Been a really long time since I got an invite to one." Nathan remarked.

"You actually got invited to a rave party?" The Braixen asked.

"Yeah. Didn't accept it, but I did stop by the place."

"Wait, YOU were that Dartrix just chilling outside those years ago?"

"Uh… Maybe?"

"Heh. You looked like you wanted in." Taryn remarked.

"Did not. Was just curious." The owl archer replied.

"Food's here!" Oscar called to the group as he brought the team's heated leftovers from their lunch alongside freshly cooked eggs and spring rolls.

Behind the Floatzel was a certain Absol mercenary assisting in delivering the dishes and utensils over to the table.

"Thank you, Angel."

"…"

The Absol sat on the end of the table, while the main seats were occupied by the other four.

"You'll love this stuff, Angel! We got it a a place called "Jerry's Grill" or something."

" _Isn't that… No, never mind._ " The Absol thought to herself. She figured that she was imagining things.

"Yeah, it ain't all about missions and battles with us!" Oscar followed.

"Alright everyone, dig in." The owl archer said as he began with the fish.

"You two are always the ones who get the fish." Taryn remarked.

"It's innate to our species." Nathan remarked as he and Oscar took a bite.

"Yeah, and I practically grew up eating 'em." Oscar said.

"Hence spear-fishing skills." Nathan added.

"So anyway." The Jolteon started. "Are you two going to the party?"

"Samantha, you decide. I'm fine either way." The Arrow Quill gijinka stated.

"Hm… Well, if you say so… Wait, what about the _thing_?" Samantha asked worriedly.

"Oh, the dirty stuff and drugs?" Taryn queried. "That's only for those who stay until the very end of the party. Most people just leave around midnight. It's after that when it really gets _wild._ " The Electric-type Eeveelution stated with emphasis on the last word.

"Well, then…I guess it wouldn't be so bad."

"Well, there will be a little alcohol around, but it's nothing to worry about."

"Oh."

"And hey, not only are we enjoying ourselves, but we might pick up on some useful words, don'tcha think?"

"Good point there."

"But we're on break."

"What's the problem with doing some work the fun way?"

" _I'd have to agree with Taryn._ " Angel thought to herself as she swallowed some of the heated leftovers from earlier. " _This… Is actually pleasant._ "

"—So we leave in two hours. By then, we need to be all ready."

"You make it sound like it's something formal." Samantha said.

"Aw, you know I don't know much about the formal world." Taryn stated.

"In that sense, you two are polar opposites." Nathan remarked.

"Yeah! Taryn's a city girl who deals with the underground while Samantha's from a lower town that actually holds formal events."

"I wonder how you two get along now." The Decidueye said almost mockingly, causing the two girls to give him and Oscar glares.

" _It will be a rather long night._ " The Absol's thoughts began to drown out the conversation before her. " _How will I relay to them what_ she _has in store for the Resistance? More importantly, at the rate this is going… I will end up becoming a part of them. I don't need that, but…_ " Angel paused. " _With the same goal in mind, they'll be useful allies._ " The mercenary looked up from her food to the four Pokémon chatting. " _A means to an end, that is all._ "

* * *

Everyone was either dancing, chatting whilst seated down on couches, or getting drinks. Taryn's ponytail hair could barely be spotted in the crowd. The Jolteon seemed to be talking to someone else.

Oscar was out hanging by a few other guys at the bar, while Samantha and Nathan both stayed on a couch for five. Angel leaned against the wall next to them, observing the party goers doing their things.

The sound of a microphone connected to speakers echoed throughout the room, silencing everyone as the music stopped. On a small stage stood a familiar Cinccino gijinka, this time wearing gray leggings and tank top. Aside from that, her hair was straight now and mildly resembled Samantha's current hair. The long white scarf was still draped around her body.

"Alright, everybody! An awesome evening to all of you, and I hope you're enjoying this as much as I am! Now that we're an hour in, it's time to really get this party… STARTED!"

With that, the disco lights displayed their colors and patterns in the center of the club where everyone began dancing once more to the music.

"CINDY! CINDY! CINDY!"

"Aww, you don't have to give me those cheers! Although I'm not asking you to stop, though~" The Normal-type did a little twirl and stepped off the stage.

A moment following that, Oscar returned to the group with a glass of water.

"That isn't gin, is it?"

"No. I'll get that stuff later." The Floatzel replied.

"Hey, guys, how are you doing?" Taryn asked as she walked over.

"Erm… I can't really say anything about it." Samantha said. The Jolteon chuckled heartily in response and smiled.

"You look so out of place, especially with your kimono."

"Hey!"

"Not saying you don't look pretty, Sammie! Just saying you don't fit well with that."

"What am I supposed to do?" Samantha replied, irritated.

"I dunno, just try doing what everyone else is doing." The Lightning Pokémon sat down next to the others.

"Hey, you." The group looked up to see Cindy walking towards them. "Yes, you."

"Cindy?"

"Boy, am I famous." The Cinccino responded wryly as she stopped in front of the group. Angel now stood straight with crossed arms. "I assume you…" The Scarf Pokémon looked over Taryn, then to Angel. "…And you are the two who were in the big gig?"

"What gig?" Taryn queried.

"Ugh. Fine, lemme spell it out for you." The woman flipped her hair and took a slightly more serious look. "I didn't have fun talking to your detective buddies about it, but we managed to get to an understanding."

"So, you know…"

"I wanted to say thank you for that. With their equipment disabled, everyone will be much more free. If ever you need anything, I'm on your side." The Cinccino winked at them and turned back to the party.

"Well, we have one more ally now."

"She knows Russel and Bridget… So she really does have a bunch of hidden aspects." The Jolteon remarked.

"No duh." Oscar commented.

" _This could go either way._ " Angel thought. " _A famous singer working in the shadows to assist us when we call for her? Would she even bother siding with us in the first place if she knew we were with the Resistance?_ "

"Definitely better to have more friends than foes."

"Agreed."

After a few minutes of discussing their plans for the rest of the night and their time in the City, the group switched over to more friendly banter and positive topics.

"WHA—Taryn, what are you?"

"Come on! It'll be fun!"

The Fox gijinka gave the two boys plus Angel a pleading look. The two boys in question gave her a "sorry, can't do" look while Angel didn't seem to mind.

"Say, Angel, ever been to one of these?" Oscar asked. once the kimono-clad Braixen was nowhere in sight, along with their Jolteon friend.

"…Yes. But only to search for potential clients." The Absol stated.

"Oh yeah, and your contract is with Tobias and the others." Nathan said. The Absol nodded.

"So during this time period, I'll only be accepting smaller requests." Angel said.

"Fair enough."

* * *

"Audrey. Matt. Are you getting this?" Tobias' voice asked.

"In full. The other leaders are receiving this as we speak." The Durant captain's voice stated through the headset on the Flygon.

"Have you read through it? That's what I want to know."

"Matt has." Audrey replied. On the video call, the Meowstic gijinka next to her gave a mute nod.

" _Disturbing intel. But now we have the full layout to the lower section of one of their three main bases._ "

"Yeah. With that, we just need to plan our attack route."

"Have I missed anything?" A Flareon gijinka wearing a very outdated pair of pajamas asked. "I just got up from my nap when one of my subjects told me this was urgent."

"And it is, Frank." Tobias said. More windows opened in the video call revealing Ethan, Claire, and two other figures.

One was a man wearing a beige crest accrssory. A dark brown formal vest covered the rest of his body while allowing space for a pair of feathered wings.

The other was another man wearing a black cape. A pair of bat ears stuck out through the man's purplish black hair.

"Sir Sebastian and Lord Zain. Where have you two been?"

"Running errands, Tobias." The Noctowl, Sebastian, replied.

"Same here." The Noivern, Zain, said.

"Alright everyone, I'm sending you the data that our new star team just got in Virtue City. Periculum's got some plans we need to be aware of. And that would be now." The Flygon stated.

"At least let the King change…" The Flareon gijinka stated before yawning and walking out of the camera's range.

After the rest of the leaders likewise fixed themselves up for what they knew would probably be a long meeting, they continued their discussion.

"We already know of Shadow Pokémon from the reports that team gave in the battle against the Ancients of the Northern Boundary." Frank, the Flareon stated.

"So what could be so interesting about the new find?" Claire quizzed.

"You'll get goosebumps from this." Audrey remarked. "It's like a horror movie!" The Durant captain said.

"Hah, the folly of youth." Ethan commented. "Now let's see…"

After reading through the most important letters, the group of Resistance Leaders had discussed the matter alongside the hacker sitting next to Audrey.

"So…"

"Yes. Our attack route is planned, now we need to find the people to do it."

"I have a suggestion." Sebastian started. "We'll take the Great Lake with other forces. The ones we send in shall have no trace of Resistance to them."

"Another undercover op?" Tobias queried.

"Yes. We'll need someone with experience in naval combat, since the place is well guarded by a fleet of Periculum ships.

"I'm in the general area." Ethan stated. "I'll have my boys go looking for people who can get the job done."

"We'll send in three elite teams plus the new star." Audrey smiled at the words and nodded.

"They'll get it done!" The captain stated.

"Hm, fine then. I'll see to it that Periculum's mountain ops are put to a stop." Zain said as his window closed.

"He really needs to learn to put manners here." Claire remarked.

"While I would agree, I think that's just you, m'lady." Frank said.

"Alright, when their vacation is over, call them in immediately! This one will be FUN!"

"That's because you're a Water-type, General." Sebastian commented.

"I always enjoyed naval warfare!" The Golisopod chuckled heartily. "It'll be good to get back on a ship!"

"Hehe, you have fun with that." Audrey signed off as well.

Claire, Frank, Sebastian, and Ethan all signed off as well, leaving Tobias by himself in the room.

"The power of one of the three mythical Creation Dragons… That'll automatically end the world."

* * *

 _Hurrah, I finished the rewrite for this one. I got lazy, tho… Sorry. :P_

 _But re-reading this one again has reminded me of a few key points I'll be including. Get hyped for the chapters to come after The Great War, because they'll be nothing short of exciting._

 _Probably the biggest change in this chapter is our quiet little protagonist. Figured I'd show a bit more of her in this chapter. If you don't mind, I'd like to know what you guys think about it._

 _Oki, Shade out._


	8. C8 - Rising Action

Shadows in War, Segment One, Chapter Eight – Rising Action

* * *

 _ **DISCLAIMER**_ _: Don't have anything to do with Game Freak or Nintendo._

 _So I finally got around to doing this thing. Huzzah._

 _The weather here lately has been very pleasant. Cloudy with little sun and rain. Perfect for a cup of tea, a bowl of ramen, and this story to edit._

 _Well of course, there's visual novel gaming and a bit of anime in between, but yeah._

 _Speaking of which, I hope you all enjoyed your Valentines' Days. I spent the whole day playing video games... Heh._

 _I had troubles logging in here on my laptop, so this upload is a bit later than I'd like. Even now, it wouldn't let me in due to mis-types, apparently. So yeah, this has been sitting in my laptop, just waiting to be uploaded_

 _Anyways, as with other chapters, I've added extra details and changed up a couple of lines- more fitting for what I had in mind when I was writing Chapter one for the first time._

 _So with me re-reading this story now, expect some better stuff to come out past chapter twenty one. Segment two will be jam packed with adventure._

* * *

"Dammit, with this guy." Taryn mused as she poked a sleeping Floatzel.

The time went by quickly and by midnight, most of the gijinkas had left, leaving just a few in Trinity Eclipse. Oscar lay on the couch out cold, with an occasional burp.

"Thank you for the night." Nathan said.

"Yeah, you're alright, bro. Take care."

The Decidueye nodded at the bartender and walked over to his friends. Angel was patiently waiting there with the others while Samantha and Taryn were figuring out a plan to get Oscar out of the club without the risk of getting thrown up on.

"I'll get Oscar."

"I'll go ask for a paper bag in case he wakes up… Or does it in his sleep."

* * *

Once the crew spent up their week in Virtue City, they left for the Center HQ.

They were riding a train to a small town nearby where they'd walk to the base of operations. The scenery outside were of lakes, forests, dirt roads, and a few houses here and there. Overall, the area surrounding the team looked nothing like the war zone Driasia actually was.

"Your leaders are planning something big."

"Huh?"

The original Resistance crew faced the Absol mercenary. The girl dressed in white was looking out the window.

"I read into the Periculum files the VCA managed to steal. What they have in mind is… Unnerving, to say the least."

"If it scares even you, then we know we're screwed." Oscar remarked, earning a few nods of agreement from the others. "What was it?"

"Your leaders will brief all of us on it… In fact, I'm expecting them to have it ready once every Resistance Pokémon in the _entire_ country is in a base."

"Talk about something important." Taryn said.

"Well then… This should be exciting." Nathan stated forebodingly.

* * *

"Everyone is to report to the conference hall. Now. No excuses." Tobias' tone on the speakers was much more serious than it normally was. Around the hallways and rooms, gijinkas were scattered about, all finishing up whatever they were doing or talking amongst each other as they headed for the conference hall.

"We just finished changing into our old outfits too…" Samantha mused.

Once the group arrived at the double doors, they stepped through and entered a massive hall, enough to fit hundreds, possibly even thousands of Pokémon. A large stage was set into the right side of the room.

On the stage stood a resistance leader sporting rhombus shaped wings, green clothes, and a sniper rifle on his back. The Flygon carefully eyed the crowd through his red shades which now had a piercing look to it.

Behind Tobias, on the wall was a gigantic screen that stretched from one corner of the wall to the next. The screen flickered to life, revealing the remaining six leaders of the Resistance- Captain Audrey, General Ethan, Lady Claire, Sir Sebastian, Duke Frank, and Lord Zain.

The other leaders were in a similar position to Tobias, standing before a large crowd of Resistance Pokémon.

"What is going on?"

"Everyone's present…"

"It's been a long time since all seven leaders showed up at once."

The main cast pressed on through the crowd to find enough seats for the five of them to stay close.

Once everyone was seated and the crowds on all sides fell silent, the leaders each cleared their throats. Their gazes were all serious, which made characters like Ethan, Tobias, and Audrey look like entirely different people.

"So… I assume no one is absent?" The Noivern leader quizzed.

"That is correct on my end." Duke Frank, the Flareon leader replied.

"Everyone is present and accounted for." Claire stated.

"Recalled everyone who was on an active mission." General Ethan added.

"We're all good here." Audrey followed.

"Not a single soul missing." Sir Sebastian, the Noctowl leader stated.

"That means we're ready to proceed." Tobias finished. "Resistance, sounds check?"

"Check!" Every single Pokémon replied.

"Good. We've gathered all of you here because…"

"…Periculum has something much more than the Shadow Pokémon and Project Type." Audrey stated.

"More?"

"But the Shadow Pokémon are bad enough!"

"What more could Periculum want?"

"Periculum has been sending in their elite troops and scientists to caverns and mountains dotted around the country." Duke Frank stated, loudly and clearly.

"Specifically, the Lost Caverns." Zain finished.

"Lost Caverns?" Samantha queried.

"Most of you don't know it, but the Lost Caverns are caves deep underground where the only light is whatever you bring, and old torches."

"The Lost Caverns are caves filled with ancient lore, protected by Pokémon known as Guardians." Ethan said.

"The Guardians are old Pokémon from times long forgotten. You'll see rare species of ancients such as Bronzong and Cradily guarding these ruin-like caverns with their lives." Sebastian explained.

"Naturally, no one is allowed into these places." Tobias said. "Even the darker sides of the Underground know not to mess with the Ancients."

"But on the other hand, Periculum doesn't care." Claire added.

"Periculum has found Unown writings, and they aren't stopping at one."

"Why is Periculum doing this?" Tobias asked. "What do they have to do with these caverns, isn't that what you're all thinking?" The crowd silently agreed.

"They're looking to find a way to open a portal to another world." Audrey stated.

"Another world!?"

"That's insane!"

"But why?"

"Attention!" Ethan called out in a commanding voice. The crowds fell silent and payed their full attention to the seven leaders standing on their respective stages.

"This isn't just any world we're looking into." Claire stated.

"They're looking for a world where common knowledge and rules are twisted and weird." Audrey explained.

"There, sleeps a single soul." Zain followed.

"A Legendary Pokémon, one of the three Creation Dragons of the forgotten myths."

"His name is Giratina." Ethan stated.

"Periculum plan to summon Giratina to this world, lure him into a trap, then convert him into a Shadow Pokémon."

"A Shadow LEGENDARY!?"

"With power like that, they will be able to decimate anything in their path with impunity. Should Periculum succeed, it will be the end of freedom as we know it." Sebastian followed.

"And perhaps, even the whole planet. A Legendary Pokémon's power is strong enough on its own, and according to the data we have, Giratina is said to be one of the most powerful of all of them."

"To be blunt, if Periculum gets Giratina, I doubt they'd stop here at Driasia." Audrey added.

"Unquestionable power…"

"Enough force to put the entire planet's worth of Pokémon to one's feet…"

"We're officially screwed."

"But." Tobias abruptly said, gaining everyone's attention. "This fight isn't over yet. We've already begun assigning you to places we think they'll be looking, and to search for whatever information you can get regarding this subject." The Mystic Pokémon explained. "Plus, it isn't just this data we got- we got a layout to the lower section of one of the boogieman's three main bases."

"We've already planned our attack. Those who are going will see me here at the base towards the west from the center." Ethan stated. "Everyone else here will be stationed in other locations around the area, doing whatever they can to put an end to Periculum's plan.

"Everyone, now is the time to collect your strength and your courage!" Sebastian exclaimed.

"Those who do find Periculum's operations in the caverns and mountains are to expect a brutal fight. Those are their best soldiers." Claire stated.

"We aren't going to back down!" Audrey followed.

"None of us can afford to fail now. I'll expect the best from each of you." Zain stated.

"Though our opposition is large, what's at stake is even bigger!" Frank exclaimed.

"That's why… We're going to keep it up, and we're going to free Driasia from Periculum's iron grasp!" Tobias finished.

"YEAH!"

"Everyone, prepare to move right away. We've already briefed many Commanders on the situation, so go take your roles! Meeting is adjourned!" Ethan exclaimed as the Resistance leaders' screens vanished.

"You heard the General, people!" Tobias exclaimed as he flew up above the crowd. "Prepare for anything and everything! I'll be deploying each of you to your respective posts ASAP!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

The crowd began to dissipate quickly, but many still remained to chat for a moment before getting prepared.

"Tobias really is the 'Dragon of the Resistance.'" Taryn mused.

"Even when he isn't in battle, it's pretty clear he's the supreme ruler around here." Nathan remarked.

"The Resistance's role model." Samantha commented.

"Yeah. Let's not get outdone, team." Taryn said. The four exchanged nods then turned to Angel.

"Let's go." The Absol mercenary stated.

* * *

"So we're being sent west?"

"Yep. You're the only ones in Center HQ headed there. The Trench Division is already on their way there." Tobias said. "You guys sure are famous around here now. Better keep doing your best!"

"Famous? Us?" Samantha asked, earning a nod from the green-dressed leader.

"Yep. You were the team who found all the info that's led up to this point. In the operation up north, and in Virtue City. Plus, you guys were the first to fight against a Shadow Pokémon, along with Eagle Squadron." Tobias chuckled to no one in particular. "Pretty soon, you might just get your own nicknames around here."

"N-No way…"

"That sounds awesome."

"Anyways, you'll be headed for the western borders alone. I've got a gut feeling that Periculum might just know you guys in particular, so you'll be separated from the group."

"You got it."

"And hey… If you guys in the west run into any Periculum soldiers in nearby towns and cities… You give them my regards, alright?"

"Will do, Tobias."

"Thank you. You're leaving by convoy in two hours, so get set."

Once the Resistance crew nodded, the Mystic Pokémon (once again, not really) turned and began talking to other Resistance squads.

"Things are going by so fast now." Taryn remarked.

"The place is much more lively than usual." Oscar followed.

True to the Floatzel's words, Pokémon were scattered everywhere, some discussing their ideas and plans, others running errands, and others fixing themselves up for a move.

Every single mechanic in the base were checking all the vehicles. Cars, planes, helicopters, and even a few boats were made to be in tip-top shape.

"Hey!" The group turned to see a Sceptile wearing a red scarf bearing a Resistance emblem and a Solar Division emblem.

"Hey there, Edmund." Oscar greeted. "And to Delbert and Amanda." The Tropius smiled and the Bellossom bowed lightly in response.

"How are you five holding up?" Delbert asked in his deep voice.

"We're just peachy." Taryn replied.

"We're headed out west to join the teams moving to the Periculum base." Samantha stated.

"Whoa, lucky you." Amanda remarked.

"We're not going since the area there isn't exactly very sunny." Edmund explained. "We don't do too well in cloudy or foggy areas."

"Oh, that's right." Nathan said out of the blue. "The center-west Great Lake area is known for having plenty of clouds covering it all the time, a damp atmosphere, and occasional fog."

"Then let's see what we can grab here that'll help us out there." Oscar said.

"Good luck to you, then." Edmund said. "We'll be rooting for you from the sidelines. A good and skilled team such as yourself will be crucial to the mission."

"T-To hear that coming from an Elite Team leader… Thank you, Edmund." Samantha said with a bow.

"Oh, please…" The Sceptile replied with a smile and a scratch to the back of his head.

"It is true." Amanda commented. "Your team is one of the most balanced Resistance teams around here. Good type coverage, decent movepools, and you can all cover each others' weaknesses."

"Oh, we all know a good Water-type is essential to a balanced team!" Oscar stated, getting a light smack from behind dealt by a certain Jolteon.

"Nah, an Electric-type is SO much more versatile. Fast and good at attacking!"

"But you're no good at defending, are you?" The Floatzel asked with a deadpan expression.

"Ha. Defending doesn't matter to me when I can just dodge every hit that comes my way." Taryn proudly stated.

"Really, now? I think that a little stealth will keep you from having to defend or dodge at all." Nathan stated, earning a couple of mean looks from Oscar and Taryn. Samantha giggled at their antics while Angel sighed inwardly. The leader of the Solar Division shared a light chuckle with the main cast's Braixen.

"We need to be off now." Edmund said.

"Where to?" Samantha queried.

"We're being deployed down the southeastern section of Driasia, where Duke Frank is."

"Lots and lots of sun." Amanda commented, seeming elated at the thought.

"Good for you. You'll be a valuable asset there."

"Yeah. Hope your team gets lucky again too in the west." Edmund stated. At that, the team exchanged looks, save for an Angel who shrugged.

* * *

After the team finished their preparations, they were on a lone jeep, traveling through the same landscape they saw from the train. Behind them was a town they just passed, thankfully without looking any bit suspicious.

"Guys… I kinda have a bad feeling about this trip." Oscar mused.

"Hey, don't worry. I do too." The driver, a Mudsdale said. "The fact that this place is way too quiet and peaceful scares people who pass through here. But it's probably nothing."

"Hope you're right." Samantha replied.

The ride for the most part was indeed quiet. Much too quiet. The group chatted here and there, but otherwise kept an eye on their surroundings. Lands that weren't torn by war were known to be hiding spots for mercenaries, serial killers, hunters, and the like. In Driasia, you could get tracked and/or killed for any given reason, but despite that, the quiet towns were peaceful enough.

"…That's not a mercenary." Angel suddenly said, gaining a look from everyone. "Someone is watching us… But it isn't anyone like me."

"How would you know?" Nathan asked.

"I know much about how other mercenaries operate. No two are exactly the same, but we all have our own code of conduct, similar to the Underground in Virtue City."

"I see…"

"…And no mercenaries ever hunt in this specific location."

"Which means?"

"…Driver, pull over."

"Alright. I hope you know what you're doing."

The Mudsdale stepped on the brakes lightly, causing the vehicle to slow down to an eventual halt.

"I'll scout." Nathan said. The Decidueye stepped out of the car and looked around before closing his eyes and reopening them. His eyes now glowed a little white, and he looked around the area. "Foresight…"

"See anything?" Taryn asked as she and the others except the driver all got out of the car.

"…Crap."

The owl archer sidestepped to avoid an Ominous Wind sent from a tree. The Pokémon in the car all stepped out and looked towards the area, while Angel kept her eyes on the blind spots.

"Very good, dodging that move." A voice called out. "The many who failed to evade that are quick prey."

Before them, a man wearing black, standing at 5'7 landed. A feathered cape with a red design inside was worn over a long sleeved black vest. A pair of black suit pants led down to metal boots lined with gold. A white scarf decorated the gijinka's neck, and to top it all off was a black pirate-like hat with a dark purple feather on it.

"Now… You look like an interesting bunch." The Honchkrow gijinka stated. "Only one vehicle, but well-armed Pokémon." The Dark- and Flying-type looked the Resistance Pokémon up and down, examining their weapons- a lance, a stick, a pair of claws, a sword, an arm bow, and a shotgun equipped by the Mudsdale.

"So?" Oscar said.

"Hm, you don't look like you'll be easy… So I'll do this the civil way. Have you anything of high value with you?" The Big Boss gijinka queried.

"Why would you want to know?" Taryn asked as her fists sparked with lightning.

"I'm trying to be more civil here. I'm in a generous mood today. So if you don't have anything worth taking, I'll be taking my leave."

"Who are you?" Samantha asked as she pulled her stick from her tail, lighting the end ablaze.

"Oh, you haven't heard of me? That makes this much easier. Are you merely passing by?"

"Yes. What are your reasons for attacking us?" The Decidueye quizzed. The other bird chuckled lightly.

"I have no quarrel with you, unless you lie to me or fight back." The Honchkrow explained. "Simply tell me whether or not you have anything worth taking… And if I believe you when you say you don't, I'll leave you to be on your merry way."

"Hmph… We have nothing, thief." Angel stated as she took a few steps forward.

"Oh, well if it isn't the Dark-type Top Mercenary… I suppose there isn't any arguing with you." The Dark- and Flying-type mused. "Fine then, I really do have no business fighting you. But if that mercenary's contract expires, you'll be mine next we meet." The bird laughed and opened his cape to fly away, followed by a flock of Murkrow that appeared from the trees.

"Just who was that guy?" Oscar queried.

"From the way he carried himself, spoke, and tried to pry us for information… He was a high-ranking thief." Angel stated. "Let's go. We have nothing for us here."

* * *

" _I need to do my criminal homework…_ " Angel thought to herself as she looked outside the window.

A few Surskit and Yanma were conversing by a pond. The surrounding area was filled with a few patches of light fog, ponds, trees, and a cloudy atmosphere. The humidity could be felt in the car, making the team have to turn the aircon to full blast to keep the heat away. Samantha however, was comfortable either way.

The quiet atmosphere wasn't the same kind of quiet. It was more like a serene kind of silence, as the few chirping Bird Pokémon and the buzzing insect Pokémon broke the silence with their natural behavior.

The team chatted amongst each other, talking about the scenery, what they knew of the area, and what they planned to be doing once they arrived at the lower base.

The mercenary simply ignored them and watched the passing marsh outside. Her broadsword lay still on the Absol's lap, its sheath shining as sunlight entered through the gaps between trees and into the car.

"Hey, Angel. Where'd you get that sword?" The Dark-type turned to Oscar. "You don't see a lot of those around these parts."

" _No point in hiding it. But there isn't a reason for them to know, either._ " Angel thought. " _Besides… Even if they could get their own weapons, they wouldn't become my enemies in the foreseeable future…_ "

After a moment's thought, Angel opened her mouth to speak.

"I had it custom built." She replied. "After researching and collecting materials, I took it to a place where I could have it built. It's a lot more useful than your average blade." The Absol explained.

"Whoa, OK…"

"Didn't know you were a weapon nut, Angel." Taryn remarked.

"Hm." The Absol replied, this time not as cold as usual.

"Indeed. I've noticed the sharpness and durability of your sword." Nathan stated. "It's a valuable asset to your fighting."

After half an hour passed, the jeep came to a stop by what appeared to be a building covered in moss and plants. The look gave the building an abandoned feeling.

"Hey you, you're a scout, right?" The driver queried, looking at Nathan. The archer nodded. "Go make sure nobody's tailing us. Otherwise, it'll be our faults if this place is discovered."

"Got you."

Nathan stepped out of the vehicle and used Foresight to scan the area around him. The group waited patiently, but also kept vigil for any area Nathan wasn't looking at.

"We're clear."

"Alright, back in." The Decidueye did as told and in mere moments, the Mudsdale drove around the building to a slightly out-of-place wall. The Mudsdale stepped out and moved a few leaves from a spot on the wall, revealing a keypad. "Let's see… Got it."

Where the strange wall was, a path leading underground opened. The Ground-type got back behind the wheel and drove straight in, foot constantly on the brakes to keep the jeep from falling in.

* * *

"We'll wait a day for everyone to be in positions."

While there were already a good amount of Pokémon in the current base, Ethan explained that more were on the way and that they were not yet ready to begin the assault. First, they had to obtain help from privateers to help them take control of the Great Lake nearby.

Once that was done, the Resistance would wait for a few days to pass to keep Periculum from knowing that it's being orchestrated by the Golisopod general and the forces in this base.

Until then, they would bide their time until the whole Resistance was in their proper places and the naval support was ready.

"So, you don't have any objectives as of yet. And don't worry, that entrance isn't the only one." Ethan started. "There's a town just outside the marsh, name of Runswick. You can get to it by traveling through the swamp, or going through the tunnels and exiting through the mountainside to go there."

"Thank you, General."

"Now if you head into the town, you need to be back here in about eighteen hours, got that?"

"Sir, yes, sir."

"Good. Dismissed." The Golisopod said as he walked over to another group of Resistance Pokémon.

"Well, I think I know what I'm doing." Oscar said.

"I'll go too. There isn't much to do around here, after all." Nathan remarked.

* * *

The sound of flowing water was the only thing heard in this moment of concentration. A pair of orange eyes narrowed themselves as they aimed forward. A feathered brown cloak which doubles as a bow right where the wearer's arm was pointed straight at a small, red object sitting on top of an orange fox.

An arrow pierced through the center of the apple without making much of a mess or leaving a head containing a pair of fox ears with fiery orange tufts.

"Whoa… You actually pulled it off…" A Ledyba gijinka said.

"Sweet. Alright, archer. Here you go." A Pansear gijinka shook the Decidueye's hand before giving him a bag of coins.

"Thank you." Nathan replied as he took the bag of coins. Samantha walked over with the pierced apple in hand. She took the arrow out and took a bite into the apple.

"Mm. Nice work, Nathan." The Braixen commented as the Pansear and Ledyba began walking away, talking to one another.

"Now that that's done, we should probably continue looking around for anyone who might be able to help us in the Great Lake op." Nathan mused.

"Agreed." The Fox mumbled as she took another bite from the apple.

"I wonder how much progress the others are making?" The Decidueye turned to the Fire-type standing next to him. "…You wouldn't mind sharing, would you?"

* * *

Angel accompanied Oscar and Taryn as they strolled through the town. Despite its somewhat closed off location, it was lively, and made a good rest stop for those who were passing through. Pokémon could be seen going about their business in the many shops and services dotting the town.

Those included blacksmiths, goods stores, taverns, inns, small farms, fisheries, apparel stores, and food stores. A small school, a hospital, a library, a couple of banks, three carriage stations, and a police building were also frequented by the many citizens of the peaceful town.

"This is a nice place." Taryn remarked. "It's so… Peaceful."

"Yeah. Almost makes you think this country isn't at war." Oscar added.

"…"

"We've got to keep fighting Periculum, so places like this don't turn into the warzones we see everywhere else." Oscar said. "These guys are all innocent and happy people. The big bad boogeyman's got no business around here."

"Definitely! Let's keep looking around."

" _Two more missions._ " The Absol thought to herself. " _Even the leaders didn't suspect any correlation to the original information… Hmph. As long as that keeps up… Alright._ "

The Dark-type looked forward to see Oscar and Taryn chatting with an Oshawott and a Tyrogue gijinka.

" _We're raiding one of their three main bases._ " Angel mused inwardly. " _Although the chances are low… It is still a possibility… That_ she'll _be there. If she is…_ "

"…Yeah, a few ships just came in. Each of different origins, but some of them are pretty good."

"Really? Where can we find them?"

"They're probably off hunting or in their ships." The Oshawott replied. "If you ask and you pay well, they might do you the favor. Although a few of them might be leaving soon, though."

Angel snapped out of her thoughts and turned her attention back to the conversation.

"OK, thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Angel, we've got a lead." The Floatzel said.

* * *

Later on, the group was now sitting on one of the picnic tables in front of a wooden hut with the words "Little Fence" above it. As a method to keep from looking any part suspicious, the team decided to order a few snacks and drinks while they were there.

That, and Samantha didn't share the apple.

"Apples. Always a pleasant thing to have once in a while." A certain owl commented as he bit into an apple.

"Are you sure we're not just eating here because she didn't share a freaking apple with you?" Oscar queried.

"Well… This IS a legitimate method of appearing normal." Nathan replied. "Learned it from some of the stealth units of the Resistance."

"Hehehe. Can't work on an empty stomach, after all." The Fire-type Samantha added.

"Alright, alright. So, they may be on their ship… Which is much better than looking around in a marsh." Taryn remarked.

"Definitely better to be by the sea than in a place like that." Samantha added.

"Aside from the mud, I don't see what's so wrong with swamps." Oscar remarked.

"Uh, hello? Typing?" Taryn said mockingly.

"Pfft. You shouldn't let that bother you so much." The Water-type replied.

"A swamp has its advantages for us, after all." Nathan remarked.

"You try being a Fire-type in a muddy and damp place covered in practically fireproofed grass." The Fox Pokémon commented.

"Hm, maybe. Let's go out pirate hunting, shall we?" Nathan stated.

"Pirate hunting?" Oscar asked.

"It felt fitting, OK?"

"It does sound kinda cool, now that you think about it…" Taryn mused.

"Are we ready to leave?" Angel quizzed indifferently. The group nodded and stood up, leaving a few empty plates and glasses on the wooden table.

* * *

The sun was now setting and the Resistance team left Runswick behind them and headed for the docks up ahead. There, ships were moored just at the mouth of the river leading to Runswick, then the Great Lake.

Three ships stood out amongst the rest with their sails completely off the wind.

One of them was a vessel with a strong-looking wooden hull with heavy iron and steel plating. Few Pokémon could be seen leaning against the railing. The bow's badge couldn't easily be described from the distance the team were. The mast at the front carried a total of six sails, middle with seven, and the rear with four. The middle stood at about 72 meters, fore at roughly 60 meters, and the tail close to 46 meters.

The second ship seemed to have a wooden hull. Steel beams lined up with the wood and sturdy looking ropes and poles for railing. The ship also had a figure head, but from the distance, it was unclear as to what it represents. The fore mast carried six sails, the middle with seven, and the tail mast with three sails. The foremost mast stood around 49 meters, middle about 54 meters, and the rear standing close to 19 meters. The rigging was that of a Bark.

The last of the peculiar ships was small compared to the previous two, only having two masts and a smaller hull, and the hull was painted unlike the last two. The hull was painted white with one red and blue stripe. Its hull was also looked above-average in strength with steel lining for extra defense. The bow had a figure head that looks like it represents a winged creature, but from the distance, is still uncertain. The fore and main mast carried four sails, the foremost stood around 35 meters and the main around 36 meters. The ship looked similar to a brig, but the rigging and hull is modified in a way that made it seem otherwise.

"I suppose that's where we're looking." Nathan mused.

"Let's just hope they're not aggressive or anything." Taryn remarked.

"Hmph. I wouldn't worry…" The mercenary Absol remarked.

"Why not?" Oscar asked.

"If they were aggressive or anything of the sort, Runswick would be very different."

"Sound logic." Samantha replied.

The details of the ships became clear as the Resistance team drew ever closer. Flags of unknown origin were flown by all three vessels. The first vessels' badge was adorned with white, cyan, and yellow with a pair of small, golden wings on top. The second's figure head was that of a praying Gardevoir, and the third's figure head depicted a hummingbird.

Up above on wooden posts every two sails were a few scouts, most wielding bows, a few with flintlock pistols, and still others with short rifles. Down below, each vessel was offloading cargo with a few recognizable boxes found in Runswick's stores.

A Furret lookout shouts out something to the crew down below, gaining everyone's attention. The crew, comprised mainly of Mightyena, Dewott, a few Samurott, and Buizel all look to the Resistance team.

A Samurott approached them. His twin blades were visible on the sheaths carried around on his blue pants. He opened his mouth to speak, and—

"Halt there! State your intentions." The Samurott stated in a commanding voice with a British accent. "Do you intend to steal any cargo on board, or do you wish to meet our captain?"

"That would be the latter." Nathan replied. "We mean none of you harm, we simply wish to have a word with your captain."

"Our captains are not present at the moment."

"Wait, captain with an "s?" Taryn asked.

"Aye. They went to scout the swamps, sift through for any useful articles." A Buizel replied.

"Oh, alright… When will they return?" Samantha asked.

"By midnight, m'lady." A Mightyena replied.

"Alright, thanks." Oscar said. "Well, we're going to have fun looking for them…"

"You may stay in the guest's cabin, if you wish. Otherwise, you may attempt searching for them in the swamps, or return to town. The choice is yours." The Samurott stated as his hands moved away from the hilts of the blades.

"At least we have some logical options here." Taryn remarked.

"Angel, what do you think?" Oscar asked.

"We look for them."

"UGH, why?" The Jolteon gijinka quizzed.

"Fine, stay here or in the town." The Dark-type mercenary replied. "You're free to assist me… Or not." The Absol said as she began walking away.

"Hey, I'll join you." The Decidueye said as he followed Angel.

"Meh, might find something to fry later." Oscar said. "What are you two doing?" Oscar asked the Fire- and Electric- types standing there with evident disdain on their features.

"To hell with that place…" Samantha remarked.

"More like it IS hell." Taryn added. Oscar chuckled in response and began walking away.

"You guys are so mean!" The two girls shouted out in unison before following their allies.

* * *

Later on, just before midnight, the swamp was extremely dark, lit only by the fire at the end of a certain Braixen's stick.

"I wish we were like you two." Taryn remarked as Nathan chuckled and Angel grunted in response. Being a Decidueye AND a Ghost-type enabled Nathan to see anywhere, regardless of light level, while Angel's dark-typing as an Absol gave her similar properties.

"Oh, come all you faithful, gather around the fire." Samantha remarked mockingly, earning a few laughs from her friends. "I'm going to have fun washing this gunk off later…"

"They probably already went back to their ship… It's pitch black, and there's this gunk everywhere!" Taryn complained.

"It isn't actually gunk… But it does slow us down." Oscar remarked.

"Don't you guys feel uncomfortable!?" Samantha queried.

"Not exactly." Nathan replied.

"No." Angel replied without looking back.

"Kinda." Oscar said.

"Wait." Angel stated. "Samantha, lights out. Now."

"Oh, come on!"

"Just do it." The Absol said, giving the Braixen a cold glare. At that, Samantha sighed internally and prepared to put out the flame on her stick.

Before the Braixen could react, Angel drew her sword and blocked a hit from what appeared to be a hatchet. The team instantly drew their weapons, with their Fire-type standing in a daze, confused as to whether or not to put the fire on her stick out.

"Hmph… Forget it." The Absol said as she glared up at her assailant.

"What now!?" The Jolteon said.

The Dark-type gijinka parried the hit and quickly drew her sword back to avoid it getting stuck in a small slot attached on the enemy's hatchet. The attacker quickly backed away as other figures appeared behind him.

"They don't seem to be very negotiable..." Nathan remarked as he took an arrow from the quill hidden in his cloak.

"Then we fight."


	9. C9 - The Iron Wall

Shadows in War, Segment One, Chapter 9 – The Iron Wall

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I pretty clearly have nothing to do with Game Freak and other companies.**_

* * *

BANG!

The sound of the gunshot echoed into the nighttime swamp. Following that was the sound of a bullet clashing against steel.

A blade of bronze met a dagger. In the next second, another gunshot rang throughout the area, and a strike was blocked judging by the sound of steel against steel.

An arrow was shot from Nathan's hoodie, but the projectile was masterfully shot out of the air by the man fighting Angel.

"Never take your eyes off an opponent." Angel mumbled.

"I didn't."

The attacker swung his hatchet, and Angel blocked the strike with her sword. Like earlier, she backed away quickly before it went any further.

"You noticed the cut in my hatchet… Interesting." The main cast's assailant stated in a British accent. As the fire on the end of Samantha's stick burned brighter, the features of the figure and his companions were revealed to the group.

Their assailant was clad in a snow white long sleeved shirt underneath a light blue vest with a rhombus shape on the back. Strapped to his torso was a small pouch. A pair of trousers of the same blue as his vest were held up by a black leather belt, also carrying five more pouches- two of which carried flintlock pistols. A third rested on the right side of his torso. Dark blue shoes coated in grime didn't impede his movement in the thick swamp.

His hair was short and sideswept to the right, colored an icy blue. A horizontal scar was below his left eye, and a smaller scar to the left os his lips beneath the first scar. In his right hand was the hatchet he used to fight Angel. A cut on the bottom towards the middle of the blade was present, accompanying a dagger in his left hand.

"Hmph…"

While Angel and the mysterious character fought, the main cast turned their eyes to the back where another figure stood, observing the situation. She was a short girl with a white t-shirt underneath a jacket with shorter sleeves than the shirt. A skirt that went down to just above the Pokémon's knees, held up by a leather belt carrying two black pouches, two sheaths, and behind her, a pair of holsters, each with double barreled wheel lock pistols. Her apparel shared the same shade of yellow that Samantha's dress had. A pair of red ankle high socks were coupled with orange leather shoes drenched in mud and leaves. A fiery orange wavy bob cut was decorated with a pair of fiery red ember-shaped locks on either side. A small fox-like tail stuck out from her back, identical to Samantha's except without the stick, and green eyes surveyed the area, ready to attack wielding a dagger in her left hand and a foot long knife in her right hand.

Accompanying the duo was a Samurott gijinka wielding a spear, similar to those on the ships encountered by the group earlier. But what really made them stand out was the fact that the Glaceon and Fennekin were both under five feet- looking like they were only 11 years of age.

The Shiny Glaceon male pointed his dagger towards Angel, who in turn pointed her broadsword at the Ice-type.

"State your intentions. The townsfolk don't dare to enter this place at this hour." The Glaceon male started.

"I stand corrected." Nathan quietly said.

"Survival." Angel responded coldly, earning a gulp from Taryn.

"H-Hang on, that's not…"

Before any more words could be spoken, the Absol and Glaceon clashed blades once more. Each time, Angel would avoid the cut in the hatchet her opponent handled.

"Well, I know bullets can't stop this!" Oscar fired a Water Pulse aimed at the Ice-type fighting against Angel…

…Only for it to be stopped by a strange force that tore the projectile apart.

"What the…" Oscar took a step back in surprise. The Fennekin gijinka on the other side of the field curled her lips into a smile.

"What was that?" Taryn asked.

"No idea… But we need to be on guard!" Nathan responded.

"You're quite the fighter." The Shiny Glaceon gijinka stated as he and Angel backed off.

"I could say the same… You'll keep me entertained a while longer." Angel stated.

"Uh, Angel, I think we can still negotiate…" Samantha trailed off unsurely. The Dark-type in question kept her gaze focused on her opponent.

"I liked your response." The Ice-type Eeveelution stated. "But it doesn't answer my question. What business have you here?"

"I could ask the same of you." Angel responded.

"N-Now's our chance…" Samantha mused.

"We're looking for a sea captain!" Oscar exclaimed, keeping his spear at the ready. The Fennekin and Samurott on the opposite end blinked.

"A sea captain? You stand in his presence at this very moment." The Fennekin gijinka replied in a high pitched voice that would belong to a child- fitting her height.

The Glaceon's ear twitched for just a moment before he blocked another attack flung by Angel and parried. Following up, he lashed out with his dagger to stab Angel, but the Absol skillfully took a step to the side and used the momentum to bring her sword down against the Ice-type.

"It's been a while since I've had an opponent as good or fierce as yourself." The Ice-type remarked. Angel backed off and sheathed her broadsword after seeing the Glaceon change his stance.

At that gesture, the main cast all relaxed.

"Captain of which ship, exactly? Do you mean three ships gathered together by Runswick?" The Fresh Snow Pokémon queried.

"I think that's about right." Taryn replied.

The Fennekin and Glaceon both open their mouths to speak.

"Lay down your arms, and we'll chat."

"Uh, could we do this outside this dreadful place?" Samantha quizzed.

"Where to?" The Samurott gijinka asked the Glaceon.

"Le Paroi De Fer."

 _ **INSERT A LINE HERE**_

"What's Le Paroi De Fer?" Nathan queried as all the Pokémon strolled down a dirt path from Runswick headed to the docks. Meanwhile, Taryn and Samantha were busy trying to clean themselves off the mud and dirt that coated them during their little expedition. Psychokinesis made the process much easier, courtesy of the Braixen.

"It's the largest ship of the three- commandeered by yours truly." The Glaceon replied.

"Okay, umm..."

The Fire- and Ice-type duo accompanied by the Water-type starter both sized up the archer, lancer, mage, and hacker following them.

"Have you anything else to be saying?" The Shiny Glaceon queried.

"Spit it out already." The Fennekin said. Definitely eleven years old.

"Umm..."

"Just out of curiosity..." Samantha trailed off. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-two years of age." The lower-evolution Fire-type responded.

"Really? No offense, but..." Oscar mused.

"Not to worry." The Fresh Snow Pokemon stated. "We get that a lot."

"It does end up quite useful in battle." The Fennekin followed.

" _Yeah, riiiiiiight..._ " The four thought with wry smiles.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Nathan broke the silence.

"What were you doing in that place during midnight?"

"Yeah, you were saying over and over that nobody goes in the swamp at night." Benjamin paused to think for a moment before casting a sideward glance to the main cast as they walked, and opened his mouth to speak.

"Recently, I've heard some relics of my ancestry were buried here. However, it appears the rumors were false."

"I see…" Nathan mused.

The three ships from earlier came into view due to the area being well lit by torches and lamps on the ships and on the docks. Half of the gijinkas previously there were gone, presumably resting, while the rest stood guard over the three ships.

Now that they were much closer, the group could see the badge adorned on the bow of the first ship. It was made of silver, with two golden wings on top. The badge represented a wall of iron bearing a design similar to the main mast's flag.

Thirty-eight broadside cannons adorned one side of the ship. The other side presumably had the same, making for a total of seventy-six steel cannons for each broadside. On the fore and the stern castle of the ship appeared to be four solid long guns each.

"Geez, don't you think that was terrible, having to go through that swamp for hours?" Samantha asked, keeping her gaze to her pre-evolutionary counterpart.

"We've been through much worse. But I can agree with you there, it was rather uncomfortable." The Fennekin replied.

"Finally, someone who really agrees with us." The Jolteon gijinka remarked.

"Hmph. It wasn't one bit bad." Angel remarked.

"Actually, at one point in the swamp, I decided to freeze the entire place…" The Glaceon gijinka mused. "…That was until I figured it only made the terrain worse."

"You froze the swamp? When?" Taryn asked, curiosity audible in her voice.

"That was in the afternoon, since having to trek through the mud got annoying." The Firefox responded for the Shiny Glaceon.

"But in that fight… You were moving like it was nothing." Nathan remarked.

"The ground there was a little more stable." Angel began.

"And given that we spent the entirety of our day there, I had grown accustomed to it." The Ice-type Eeveelution added.

A Buizel gijinka glanced at them and raised an arm.

"Ahoy, Captain!" The Water-type yelled as the group approached. "Would this group be the same that tried to look for you earlier?" He queried to the rest of the crew.

"Aye."

"Wait, are we getting on board? How do we get on?" Taryn questioned.

"Knowing the height of the main deck from the docks…" The Fennekin trailed off.

"…We climb the vessel." The Glaceon replied.

"What about that door over there?" Nathan asked.

"That is out of order, due to the locks having problems." The Glaceon responded. At that, Samantha gulped while Taryn deadpanned.

"So wait, we're supposed to do parkour to get up there?" Oscar asked.

"Hmph." Angel stepped forward and jumped to grab a rope, before climbing it along with wooden planks to the deck of the ship.

The Dark-type glanced back at them and closed her eyes as well as crossed her arms.

"Showoff."

"She's a hasty one." The Glaceon commented.

"Oh, I forgot. Apologies for the rudeness. My name is Sarah Emily Rose." The Fennekin stated with a small bow.

"And I am Benjamin. Benjamin Rayan Varim. Pleased to make your acquaintance." The Shiny Ice-type said with a small bow of his own.

"You literally tried to kill us earlier." Oscar remarked.

"Well, that's how we've met a number of our allies." Sarah, the Fire-type replied. The four gijinkas with the Resistance all exchanged looks for a moment, while Angel didn't seem the least bit interested.

"I'm Nathan. Nathan Shaw." The Decidueye introduced. "My companions are Oscar Trevin, the Floatzel, Taryn Bailey, the Jolteon, Samantha Autumn, the Braixen."

"And who would the hasty, yet intelligent Absol be?"

"Angel." Samantha replied. "We really don't know much about her… She's just a mercenary working with us as part of her contract." The Braixen replied.

"Oh, that's right. I almost forgot why we're looking for this guy in the first place." Oscar remarked.

"Well, there certainly won't be a good conversation down here. We'll board my ship, and we'll chat in the captain's quarters." Benjamin stated.

"Alright, but what about me…?" Samantha asked. "I can't exactly climb something like that…" She trailed off.

True to her word, Samantha was the only member of the group who didn't stand a chance at climbing that ship. Nathan was suited for things like this due to his role as a scout and archer, while Oscar and Taryn learned from combat training and other circumstances. A ranged attacker like Samantha, whose species isn't suited for physical combat, however, didn't go through much training to be able to run and instead focused on being more useful on the battlefield and working with items.

"Can't you use a move to hoist yourself on deck?" The Shiny Glaceon asked.

"Uh… Not THAT high." The Braixen replied. "A-And besides…" She trailed off as she put her hands to the bottom of her dress. "I wouldn't exactly be comfortable with that."

"Uhh…"

"Alright, then just hold on to me. This'll only take a second." Sarah stated.

"Uh, why?" Samantha quizzed.

"The three of you, go board now. We'll deal with Samantha here."

"Uh… Alright?" Nathan replied as he, along with Taryn and Oscar, began climbing up the ship.

Suddenly, as Samantha takes Sarah's hand, a white flash appears where the duo were once standing. The next thing they knew, the two firefoxes were on board, and Oscar and Taryn just boarded themselves. Nathan stood there in disbelief.

"You have a Teleport Gem with you?" The owl archer asked.

Benjamin appears right behind the two Fire-types.

"It's a magic we learned back in our homeland."

"Wait, you can _learn_ to use magic without the use of items?" Nathan asked back as Samantha wobbly walked over to him.

"Ugh… Warn me the next time you're going to do that…" The Braixen mused.

"Gems or artifacts?" Sarah questions.

"There were never any use of artifacts, gems, or other items where we came from." Benjamin replied.

"So wait, you aren't from around these parts?" Oscar asks.

"Yes. We come from Lausia…" The Fennekin gijinka trailed off.

"…A land several hundred leagues to the east of this continent by my estimate." The Glaceon replied.

"Huh. Figured as much." Oscar remarked.

"Really, now…" Taryn trailed off exasperatedly. The Water-type chuckled in response.

"Hey, I'm serious! Some ships would pass by my hometown every so often, so I knew a few foreigners."

"Alright then, around here, we use items for magic things like that. Say for example, Samantha can't use moves like Hydro Pump or Thunderbolt, right? With a gem of the right element and power, she can." Taryn explained.

"It's complicated." Nathan added.

"For us, you can't exactly use conventional moves alongside these magics." Benjamin starts.

"Magic in our land is more focused for public convenience as well as healing." Sarah finished.

"Hmm, we have some gems crafted by the rare Comfey around here which allow for the use of Floral Healing, Heal Pulse, Aromatherapy, but… I think I get the picture." Nathan replies.

The clearing of one's throat caught the group's attention. They all turned to face the Absol leaning on the railing, her red-eyed gaze staring out into the black waters illuminated only by the light of the moon.

"We have a mission." Angel stated.

"Well, we can't exactly set sail now. There's a gate leading out to the open sea, but it's closed by these hours." Benjamin stated.

"That, and the crew is exhausted from their efforts today." Sarah added.

"We won't need to sail into the sea." The Disaster Pokémon replied. "We came to ask for your assistance." The mercenary's freezing gaze slowly turned to her allies.

"Alright, alright." Oscar said.

"Okay, so… Do you guys know about the status of the country?" Taryn asks.

"Aye." Benjamin replied. "I'm aware of it. Reminds me of some points in Lausian history." The Glaceon remarked.

"Okay. Well… You've noticed the one thing we carry in common, right?" Samantha asked.

The four members each revealed a part of their clothing- a piece of cloth sewn into the right sleeve on Nathan's cloak, onto Taryn's windbreaker jacket, Oscar's left coat sleeve, and the same for the upper back of Samantha's dress. The cloth was of the same make as their clothing, but what stuck out was an emblem of a sword and assault rifle behind a shield, with an explosion in the background.

"Allow us take a wild guess." Benjamin stated.

"You're with the Resistance, aren't you?" Sarah asked.

"Bingo." Oscar and Taryn replied in unison.

"You said you would invite us to the Captain's cabin?" Nathan asked.

"Aye. We were just about to get to that." The Shiny gijinka replied.

* * *

Sturdy-looking glass windows lined with steel plating and wood adorned the wall opposite the side of the room. A table in the middle of the room was covered in several maps, scrolls and books, all lit by candles. On the far right corner of the quarters lay a large bed bearing a white blanket. Nearby were several flags with similar design to that of the flag flown on the ship's main mast.

On the left side of the room was a model of the ship they currently stood on, seated on a small rounded table. Alongside it was a cabinet containing an axe, a bayoneted flintlock pistol, and a knife as well as articles of clothing inside its opened doors.

"Are those Lausia's flags?" Samantha asked.

"No, those are flags of the trading company of which my ship represents." Benajmin responded.

Each of the flags' designs were different from one another, but they all bore the same colors.

"So what's with them being a little different from each other?" Oscar asked.

"From my great grandfather to my grandfather, then from him to my father, and from my father to me." Benjamin started. "This trading company has been passed down from generation to generation." The first four members of the Resistance team all made an amazed "ooh."

"And what of the ship?" Nathan asked as he closed the door behind him.

"Acquired from the hands of filthy pirates." Sarah replied.

"Pirates?" Taryn asked. "Don't get the wrong idea, I know what pirates are, but…"

"In the seas of Lausia, pirates run rampant." Benjamin replied. "Believe it or not, there is no such thing as an iron hulled vessel there."

"Heh, same thing around here." Oscar remarked.

"Most of the ships around here are like that too, but they're starting to mess with engines and steel ships now." The Braixen began. "They're mostly Periculum's prototypes, which they won't give to anyone outside themselves."

"Ah, yes. So, you came here to ask of my assistance, or did you not?"

"Right. This river opens out into the Great Lake nearby." Taryn started. Before the Electric-type can continue, she is interrupted by Benjamin.

"Wait. The Great Lake…" Benjamin quietly speaks to himself for a moment, disregarding the Jolteon's surprise. Before anyone else can speak, the Glaceon opened his mouth. "You're asking for me to take all of you to one of three main bases belonging to Periculum!?"

Sarah spits out some milk quickly, much to the surprise (and mild amusement from the team except Angel) of the Resistance Pokémon.

"You what now!?" Sarah exclaims.

"Well… That's the summary of it." Taryn replied awkwardly.

"It's more than that, though. If it would be alright with you, may we discuss this in full detail tomorrow morning alongside our General?" Nathan queried.

"In the morning it is then." The Shiny Fresh Snow Pokémon said.

"It would be a pleasure to speak with your General at the same time." Sarah commented, after having calmed down from accidentally spitting out a drink.

"Alright, thank you."

The group then bid farewell to Benjamin and Sarah, as well as the crew who stayed up and left the ship. Angel and Taryn climbed down, Oscar simply jumped into the water, while Nathan had to glide Samantha down all while the Braixen did her best to keep herself at an angle to keep sights from the crewmen below.

"Ah, I need to go for a long swim soon." Oscar comments as he exits the water.

"Wait, we didn't think about where we're going to sleep…" Taryn mumbles.

Angel sighs as the group begins panicking and arguing. However, before she can speak, a familiar Shiny's voice rains from above.

"Allo down there." Benjamin calls. "Are you arguing about something? Could it be that none of you considered where you'll bunk down for the night?"

"Wait, he's not even a Psychic-type… And Fennekin can only use Psyshock and Magic Coat…" Samantha mumbled.

"If you want somewhere to sleep for the night, there are guest quarters down below decks. This is an offer though, and you could reject this and sleep in a Runswick inn." The Glaceon stated.

The Resistance team weighed their options. Runswick was already asleep' and there were no 24/7 places there, and the if they went for the base, they'd miss out on an hour of sleep from traveling there.

"Uh… Given that the town is asleep… I think we'll gladly take you up on that."

* * *

After another teleport to make things quicker, the team found themselves in a room that appeared rather ornate with comfortable canopy beds. A beautiful blue carpet adorned the center of the floor, and a few mirrors decorated the walls along with side tables with drawers for each bed.

All in all, it looked like a royal family room from the 19th century.

"Here, you may rest up. In the morning, I suppose you shall summon your 'General' here?" Benjamin quizzed.

"Yep. Thanks again, Captain Benjamin." Samantha replied.

"Oh please, m' lady. Just Benjamin." The Shiny Glaceon replied.

Benjamin left the room, leaving the group to explore their gift.

* * *

"Can't sleep?"

Angel turned to face Samantha approaching her.

"…"

"You don't need to reply." The Braixen said as she joined the Dark-type's side at the railing. A few crew members of the ship were still up and about, keeping their watchful eyes on the surrounding for anything that may come their way. "Nervous?" She asked the mercenary.

"Why would I be?"

"Because our next mission is going to be really dangerous."

"Hm?"

"We're going to delve into one of the three main Periculum bases… What they hold in there gives me the chills." The Fox Pokémon stated.

"Hm."

"We've been through some crazy things like an outpost and a bunch of battles before we met you, but… A facility that potentially contains an army of Shadow Pokémon and those things that can change their type… It's kinda scary when you think about it." Samantha explained. "Doesn't it make you feel a little nervous?"

"No." The white gijinka replied. "I wouldn't worry about it… I'm confident that we'll be able to accomplish our goals and leave that place alive."

"For you, I guess it just sounds like another challenge, huh?"

"…"

"Hey, Angel?"

"What?"

"When we get in there, do you have anything you'd probably do aside from the objectives?" Samantha queried. The Absol paused for a moment before shifting her gaze to the Braixen next to her.

"Yes… But they're low-priority." She replied. "It isn't necessary. So my focus will be to keep you alive and perform whatever objective your leaders have in mind."

"Okay. Mind if I ask another question?"

"…Go on."

"Thanks." The Fox Pokémon smiled. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Hm?"

"You fight so professionally, and nobody can even come close to beating you. You even gave Edmund, leader of the Solar Division a run for his money back when we got to Center HQ."

"That's… It's a skill I picked up from my work."

"I don't think that most mercenaries are like you. Audrey mentioned your contract showed a near perfect success rate, which nobody ever sees on even the best mercenaries out there. Plus, you're a Top Mercenary, right?"

"Hmph. They're probably just lacking in knowledge and experience in fights."

"I think I get that… So you studied about fighting?"

"Not exactly…" Angel trailed off, wondering how exactly to answer that question. She knew there were two things that made her this powerful in combat, but… "It's difficult to explain…"

"OK, I'll drop that for now." Both girls looked out into the moonlit ocean. A faint breeze drifted, making their clothes and furry tail sway slightly in the air. "I'll uh… Go to sleep now." The Braixen stretched. "The others are probably waiting for us or something… But do what you want, I guess."

Angel blinked once before nodding at the Fire-type. Samantha yawned and walked away.

Once the Dark-type mercenary was sure she was gone, she leapt off the ship and told the crew she would return soon.

* * *

The next morning, the team found themselves covered by curtains and sheets fit for kings and queens. They all groggily rose to their senses and remembered where they were before getting up slowly and greeting one another a good morning.

"Hey, where's Angel?" Oscar asked.

"Uh… I don't know."

"Maybe outside?"

As the two boys slowly approached the door with the girls checking themselves in the mirrors, the door suddenly busted open as a familiar tall man with two large, thick blades on his back busted in.

"Yo! Morning, all you!" Ethan yelled out loud, causing Oscar to flinch while Nathan squawked and panicked before falling to the floor. Samantha and Taryn stopped in the middle of brushing their hair to turn wide-eyed at the Golisopod standing at the door, the Jolteon breathing deeply all the while.

"D-Dammit… General, please don't do that again…" Oscar mumbled as he stood straight.

"Oh, woops. Sorry about that." Ethan walked over to the twitching Decidueye on the floor and picked him up before sighing and placing the owl archer on a bed. "I forgot Decidueye completely lose it when seized by panic."

"Wait, how did you get here again?" Taryn asked as she stood up from a chair in front of the mirror.

"Oh, Angel showed me here and explained the situation to me." Ethan started. "I've gotten friendly with the captain, his lass, and crew around here! I must say this ship is indeed a work of art." The Water- and Bug-type remarked. "I held off the plan until all of you were awake. You'll be happy to know everyone in the base is prepping up for the big op."

"Urgh… Alright… We'll be up on the deck in a bit, General Ethan." Samantha said.

"OK then. I'll leave you to your devices while I go chat away with that Benjamin character. I must say, looks deceive." With that, Ethan left the room, leaving a shivering Decidueye, an annoyed pair of girls and a deadpanning Floatzel.

"He sure has a way of doing things." Taryn remarked as she shook her body to wake herself up.

"Yeah… Let's all wake up quick."

* * *

After a while passed, the four Resistance Pokémon walked up to the deck to find Angel leaning against a wall, while Ethan was chatting with Benjamin and Sarah.

"Ah, there they are." Ethan stated as he looked to the group. "Everyone up this time?"

"Sir, yes, sir." Oscar replied casually. The Bug-type chuckled and apologized once more for his earlier actions.

"So now, Mister Varim… I suppose we should discuss our plan relating to the large facility not very far off from here."

"Lay down the most important things first, General."

"As you wish. So, where was I… Ah, right. My soldiers here have already told you that we intend to ask for your help in breaking into one of the three main Periculum bases in this nation, right?"

"Aye. They did inform me of that, technically." The Glaceon replied. Sarah comes up from below the deck and yawns as she approaches them.

"Now, we do not exactly need you to be aiding us in the breaching of the facility itself." Ethan started. Here, rather than the affable elder he usually was, he was more like a professional General, deserving of the title he gained with his experience and abilities. "We intend for you to open the path there. Past the Great Lake nearby is another large waterway that leads to waters controlled by Periculum. We need you to defeat their forces in naval combat."

"A few naval ships aren't much difficulty, unless there's a Man O' War there." The Shiny replied.

"We can assist inside the facility." Sarah stated. "It has been dull recently, not counting the few pirate attacks on our way to Driasia."

"Ah, thank you. You need not trouble yourself with the facility. Our intent is to make it look like an anonymous group conquered those waters for themselves, blind to the fact that it's the way to their main base here." Ethan explained. "If they knew it was the Resistance attacking there, they would send countermeasures immediately. But if an unknown group marauds the place and seems content with just taking it, then they won't suspect a thing, and it'll give me and my army the path we need to their main base."

"After recent events, we've got the data we need to get into the base and find an exit. To put it simply, we've got a full detailed layout of the first three levels of the base, plus the first basement level." Taryn added.

"Exactly why we're doing this. Taking down one of their main bases and collecting up-to-date information on their plans will help us a ton." Oscar said.

"Your payment will be thirty-eight-thousand Pokédollars." Ethan replied, gaining surprised looks from the Resistance crew except Angel.

"I didn't know the Resistance had that much money…" Nathan mused.

"Oh, we robbed Periculum controlled banks for that." Ethan replied with a proud look on his face. "The stealthier teams who were former criminals really know how to get us funds to hire Pokémon like Angel here."

"Hmph."

"Wait, so how expensive exactly was Angel to hire?" Samantha asked.

"Four hundred thousand Pokédollars." Ethan replied blankly. The Resistance team slowly turned to the mercenary quietly leaning against the wall.

"I had no idea…"

"So, do you accept?" Ethan asked.

"Save your money to yourself- we don't require it."

"Besides, our trading company earns more in a month. That, and Lausia was in war like this the previous year."

"So, you're not going to do this?" The owl archer quizzed carefully.

"No. We're going to do it." Both the Glaceon and Fennekin replied.

"We're happy to help." Sarah stated with a smile.

"Oh, thank Arceus…" Oscar mumbled.

"Thank you, truly." Ethan says. "One cannot have too many friends in war like this!" The Golisopod declared.

"Well, we've got that step done." Taryn said.

"Would you be able to come to the Great Lake in a few hours' time?" The Hard Scale Pokémon gijinka quizzed.

"Aye, we'll set sail for there then. The Le Paroi De Fer can travel at twenty and a half knots."

"You still impress me, Captain Benjamin!" Ethan said with a hearty laugh.

"Uh, why is that good again? Isn't that kinda slow?" The Electric-type asked.

"Most sail ships such as this one only travel at ten or eleven knots." Sarah answered.

"Yes, since Driasia doesn't focus at all on the ships." Nathan added.

"Wow, so this ship basically travels at twice the speed of a normal one." Samantha remarked.

"That's what happens when you get the most advanced sail plan belonging to a country that prizes itself in naval warfare." The Fennekin gijinka stated.

The Resistance's General laughed heartily and bid farewell to the ship. He took the main cast with him and headed back to the hidden base on the outskirts of the swamp.

* * *

Once they got there, the place was the complete opposite of what it had been. Instead of a nearly empty base, it was chock full of Pokémon gijinkas sporting the Resistance emblem on their clothing, and most of the empty rooms were being used as training rooms where some would fight against each other in hand-to-hand combat without the use of moves.

It was much more lively due to this and eventually, a crowd had formed in the main hall after lunchtime.

Ethan briefed everyone again on the plan. A fifth of the current audience was to head out to the great lake, removing their Resistance patches on their clothing and then stain their apparel with a little mud around themselves to keep their identities as Resistance troops hidden. Their objective was to support the crews using ships.

Once that was done, the chosen Pokémon marched out towards the Great Lake.

"You're going to be on the schooner." The General stated.

"Schooner?"

"The ship that's commandeered by Benjamin. Le Paroi De Fer." Ethan stated.

"I figured as much… But it had quite an odd feel to it." Nathan stated.

"Well, off you go. I'll spectate from a camera in the air and direct you through radio."

"You're not going to call them—wait, not walkie talkies?"

"I was going to call them that, but it looked like a certain someone remembered that they're actually called something else." Ethan stated with a deadpan. "And besides- calling them something either than the two would be futuristic and euphemistic."

The General stood proud as he held one of the devices in his hand while a Fearow gijinka gave the team one each and strapped it to their jackets, coat, cloak, and dress.

"Alright. Let's give it our all, everyone!"

* * *

Two days passed since the team were on Benjamin's ship. It was now noon time, giving everyone two and a half hours to prepare for the big operation. Resistance teams were scattered about the ships, some manning their own while others on the three ships owned by Benjamin.

"All Resistance teams, there are armories below decks. Just turn around after going down the hatch at the main mast." The Shiny Glaceon began. "I've informed the guards there of your coming."

As told, each and every Resistance team sent at least two Pokémon to the armories of the ships to see what they held. Mostly, bows, spears, and pistols were taken for longer range fighting.

"Thanks, but we're good." Taryn said.

"I've taken enough elemental gems from the base." Samantha said. In a bag slung to her waist were a collection of large and small gems of varying color.

"All set." Oscar remarked as took a glance at the spear her carried.

"Hmph." Angel stood as nonchalant as ever, her sword's sheath hanging off of her waist.

Benjamin called out to the main cast and approached them.

"Oi. Before we leave, there's something I should point out to all of you." The Shiny Ice-type stated. "Follow me back into the armory. I need to show you something."

* * *

"We're already all good with our weapons." Nathan said. "So why are we here again?"

The team found themselves in the armory of the ship. Shelves lined with various swords, spears, axes, blades, bows, quivers, arrows, flintlock and wheel lock pistols were inspected by the Resistance team pairs sent to check out what the ship and its captain had in store for them.

"Do you see those books over there?" The Fresh Snow Pokémon pointed at a shelf in the very Back of the room littered with weapons and Pokémon. "There are scripts, scrolls, and spells. You can learn quite a few in under an hour. I'm sure they'll prove useful to you."

"We'll see about that." Samantha said excitedly as she hurried to she shelves and picked up a couple of books. She read through both at once, flipping pages while holding them up with telekinesis.

"Well… I suppose it would be nice to be able to do things no one else in this country can do." Nathan mused as he walked over to Samantha, followed by Oscar and Taryn.

"Maybe I can finally learn to use a Grass- or Ice-type move for those nasty Ground-types…" Taryn mumbled.

"Hmph…"

"Oh, spells." Sarah's voice remarked. The Fennekin gijinka in question strolled over to the group of six. "It's about time Periculum got a taste of Lausian might."

"You can say that again." The Ice-type commented.

"Uh… Right… This is weird." Samantha remarked as she read further.

* * *

Later on, the hour to strike came. Everyone was out and about on their ships, making final preparations for the coming battle. The Fearow gijinka from earlier put on a camera around her neck and wished everyone luck before taking off into the air, soaring higher and higher until the clouds covered her.

"Here we go." Oscar did a knuckle crunch, standing at the bow of

"All hands on deck!" Benjamin yelled. "You lot, weigh anchor!" With that command, a pair of Buizel gijinka began pulling up the anchors. The other ships in the surrounding area all began drawing their anchors back on as well, following the first example.

"This will be one hell of a fight…"

"Everetts, Sveet, check the cargo lockers down below!" A pair of Oshawott gijinka hurried down the ship at the Shiny Pokémon's command.

"This is it, everybody!"

"I need twenty-one men and women on the main mast! Eighteen on the fore, and twelve on the mizzen mast! We need all of our sail!" Benjamin shouted. "I need six of you on the bowsprit preparing our jib sails and staysails. Two men between the main and the fore, I need you to get out our stun sails! Check for any loose ropes!"

The crew obeyed each command with the Resistance members helping out in any way they could.

"Connors, Edwards, Williams, I need you to get high up on the masts, serve as scouts!"

"Aye, Cap'n!" Three Furret instantly begin climbing the masts up to the scout posts.

"Where are the winds blowing, Quartermaster?" Benjamin turned to an Aurorus gijinka standing firm on the deck.

"Winds are blowing eastward, Captain." The Aurorus replied in a British accent much like Benjamin's.

"That's good- exactly where we're headed." Sarah commented.

"Are we all set?" Taryn queried as she approached the Shiny eeveelution.

"Aye, we bloody are!" The captain of Le Paroi De Fer replied. "Let us set sail!"

The crew cheered and slowly, the ship began moving. Followed by that were the other two ships under the shiny Ice-type's care, then the Resistance's disguise ships.

The fleet would travel one kilometer eastwards to the waters defended by Driasia's boogeyman, then confront the fleet there. After that, they would celebrate and hold the position for a few days. Once that was done, the remaining forces in the base as well as half the forces of the fleet were to head into the Periculum base entrance past the waterway

"This is it, people…"

"In a matter of minutes, we're going to be face to face with Periculum's best ships." Nathan remarked.

"But we're going to power right through 'em, just like always!" Taryn stated.

"I'm a little anxious too… Anxious for a fight!"

"Hell yeah!"

After about six and a half minutes of traveling, the fog thickened very very slightly, and a fleet could be seen up ahead.

"And so it begins…"

* * *

 _Well, this was rather late. I'm almost done with school for this year, so I'll HOPEFULLY have more time to write._

 _So there wasn't too much to be editing in the other half of the chapter. But now I have to go update the spells things that the main cast learned._

 _Oh, and statistically, Le Paroi De Fer has 4x the amount of bulk as a Man O' War would. This is due to the heavy iron plating plus the stronger than hell live oak wood and diagonal beams of wood._

 _And yes, I forgot to add before that the two look and sound like children... I guess I figured it wasn't too important a detail back then, but I decided to add it in the end. Give them a little more life, you know?_


	10. C10 - Project F: The Trial of Lightning

Shadows in War, Segment One, Chapter 10 – Project Fate: The Trial of Lightning

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer Alert: The author has nothing to do with Pokémon or Game Freak. I'm just writing a story.**_

* * *

Cannonballs rained close by, nearly hitting the fleet sailing forwards. However, it was evident that the shots fired were only warning shots.

A voice boomed from the opposing fleet standing guard over the waterway.

"Halt! These are forbidden waters! Leave at once, or you will be shot!"

The main cast, Benjamin, Sarah, and all the Pokémon on their fleet all exchanged glances and braced themselves. Before them was a Periculum fleet containing thirteen ships, three of them Man O' Wars.

"This is it, folks…" Oscar mused.

"No turning back." Nathan stated.

"On your go, Captain…"

"All hands to cannons, lads!" Benjamin yelled. "Fore and stern castles, load heavy chain shot! Be ready to fire!"

The sound of rumbling on wood down below indicated the crew were following their orders. Nathan pulled a single arrow encased in a ghostly aura and drew it on his cloak's string.

Samantha took out a large yellow gem and focused her energy into it. Taryn and Oscar braced themselves, and Angel stood as cold and indifferent as ever.

"This is your last warning! Turn back now, or suffer the consequences!" The Periculum officer shouted on his speaker.

"Broadsides loaded with standard ball shot!" The Shiny Glaceon shouted amidst the chaos beginning to spread. With a spin of the wheel, the Ice-type captain then turned the Le Paroi De Fer's right broadside towards the opposing ships. "Fire one cannonball, check distance!"

The mighty schooner fired off a single cannonball, alerting the slow enemy ships and bringing them to aim as well. The cannonball sent managed to hit the hull of an opposing brig with ease.

A blow of the schooner's horn sounded, and with it, the captain opened his mouth to give one command.

"FIRE!"

A heavy roar resounded from Le Paroi De Fer. Following that was a pondering Periculum brig, while the others scurried to get into position.

The allied fleet all turned to shoot at the opposing fleet with their cannons. Swivel guns were used for the shot and powder reserves that opened up on two more Periculum brigs.

"Archers, fire now!" A Resistance Alakazam yelled through Telepathy. Within seconds, a barrage of arrows rained down on the Periculum decks, knocking out quite a large number of crew Pokémon on the opposing side.

"Return fire, return fire, right now!" A Periculum commander shouted on the speakers. Instantly, the remaining ships all began shooting cannons blindly, most of the projectiles missing.

"Change cannon load, ready up some grapeshot!" The Ice-type Shiny Pokémon gijinka.

Soon after, canvas bags releasing plenty of lead musket balls were fired at the enemy ships, followed by chain shots, canister shots, and round shots from the other allied ships.

"We're under attack!" Another Periculum soldier screamed before being hit directly in the lower middle of his body by a cannonball.

"Uh… I can confirm that guy's not going to be having children anytime soon." Nathan mused with wide-eyes at the sight of the screaming soldier on the nearest ship, a large frigate.

"Shit… I legitimately feel sorry for that guy." Oscar had a mortified look on his face as the other men on the ships watched the scene too with pained looks.

"Sheesh, I don't think it's that bad!" Taryn yelled as she shot a Thunderbolt once Le Paroi and the allied fleet began to engage the opposing Periculum fleet.

"Well, imagine the small hole at the end, then insert a rock in there!" Sarah replied to the Jolteon's comment.

"You're not even a boy, how would you know that!?" The Jolteon queried, turning back to face the Fennekin gijinka.

"Ugh! Please don't make me imagine that anymore…" Oscar remarked as he gazed down with an expression that screamed "kill me."

"Good grief…" Nathan mumbled, looking like he had lost the will to exist.

"We have a fight to deal with." Angel abruptly said as she shot a Shadow Ball at a Corphish gijinka attempting to jump on board from an opposing schooner.

"Cannons are ready, sir!" An Eevee shouted up towards the Shiny evolved form steering the capstan.

"Concentrate your fire on the middle of her hull, lads! Fire!" Benjamin ordered. The crew on Le Paroi loaded round shot and began aiming for the center of a foe man o' war getting ready to let loose about fifty-eight broadside cannons onto the schooner.

"Here it comes…!" Samantha yelled.

"Brace yourselves!" The Shiny Glaceon commanded. Everyone on board all prepared themselves for the numerous round shots that either slid off the schooner's hull or flew past a few heads.

"That was a close one." Nathan began shooting the crew on board the larger ship. Each arrow found their marks and took down enemy after enemy.

"Quartermaster, take the wheel for just a moment." Benjamin stated to the Aurorus standing by his side.

"Aye, captain!" The Ice- and Rock-type took the wheel and steered right to ram the bow into a frigate trying to shoot at their teammates.

"Ready, Sarah!?" Benjamin shouted out.

"Ready!" The Fire-type shouted back in reply amidst the chaos.

The duo jump up and cling to the ropes on their ship. They then prepared to fire off a Flamethrower and Ice Beam combo at the frigate shooting at their allies on the schooner's deck down below.

"Keep us safe from the wrath of bullets, arrows, and strikes… Reflect!" Samantha threw up a pink gem into the air. The jewel burst into a Reflect move that slowed the bullets and arrows flying towards the deck, reducing the damage done to the crew.

An Ice Beam froze the water around the enemy frigate. The Fire-type move on the other hand, set the three masted ship ablaze, torching a few soldiers running for water buckets on the deck.

The duo then landed back onto their ship, to watch the spectacle that followed.

In the next instant, the once terrible frigate exploded into splinters and debris as the fire had reached the powder reserves inside the ship. Thanks to Samantha's Reflect Gem, though, the crew on board did not suffer much. Meanwhile, on a Resistance-provided frigate on the opposite side of Le Paroi De Fer, the crew on board suffered the same damage due to a Reflect cast by a Steenee on board.

"We're doing good so far!" Nathan yelled over the sound of the explosion.

Around them, a few more Periculum ships were beginning to ponder while the allied ships kept on throwing barrage after barrage of cannonballs, arrows, bullets, and Pokémon moves. Their side had taken much less damage so far, while dealing much more to the enemies defending the large waterway.

"Fire the chain shots!" The Quartermaster ordered, causing pairs of cannonballs held together by chains to chip away at the frigate floating in front of Le Paroi De Fer.

"We're being boarded!" A Buizel gijinka yelled as the crew on board, alongside the Resistance and the main cast, began to fight off a large group of Seaking, Carvanha, and Starly gijinkas attempting to board Le Paroi.

Oscar blocked the attack of a Seaking spearman, causing the fish water-type to stagger, giving the Floatzel the opening he needed to parry.

"I'll dispatch them quickly…" Angel mused in a bored tone as she hacked away at a pair of Carvanha that tried to use a double Ice Fang attack.

"Mowing 'em down!" Taryn commented as her Thunderbolt zapped a Starly and another Seaking, knocking them out.

"I'm not getting left out here!" Samantha yelled as she shot a Shock Wave at a Carvanha about to tackle her.

"Keep me covered, I'll snipe the ones leaving their ship!" Nathan stated as he pulled another arrow to headshot a Monferno before it threw a grenade at them.

"Killing makes my dick hard!" A Carvanha yelled as he charged Sarah with an axe.

Benjamin quickdrew the pistol holstered on his right and shot the Water- and Dark-type in the face, sending the piranha Pokémon to the floor.

"Not today, lad!" The Shiny retorted.

"That guy must have had some weird fetishes…" Nathan remarked as he took down a Simipour and a Skiddo attempting to jump from their frigate to the schooner.

"Talk about gross."

The Shiny Glaceon captain ran to one of the mounted guns on the ship's railing and began to fire at the enemy crew trying to leave their ship. Away from the boarding, the allied ships dueled against Periculum's frigates and two man o' wars. Neither side was willing to shoot at Le Paroi De Fer nor the frigate attempting to board it, due to the risk of hitting their own allies in the process.

Another opposing brig sunk to the depths as a charged up Fire Blast torched the wooden hull.

"Gotcha!" Oscar slammed his opponent upside in the head, followed by a swipe from his twin tails onto the Carvanha's torso. The Floatzel recoiled slightly from Rough Skin, giving a Starly the opportunity to use a Wing Attack.

"Too slow!" Taryn exclaimed as she managed to smack the attacker out of the way.

"Thanks, Taryn! I got this!" Oscar slashed at his opponent with his spear, knocking the enemy out onto the deck.

Angel skillfully cut down the soldiers attempting to surround her. The Absol then stood over the numerous bodies littering the decks and sighed.

"They never learn…"

"Go, Angel!" Samantha yelled as the opposing frigate began sinking. A Samurott gijinka belonging to Benjamin's crew hopped back on board from the frigate.

"I've managed to let water flow into the ship's cabins. That frigate won't be bothering us any longer." The Water-type remarked as he placed his twin blades back onto the sheaths on his legs.

"Fire to the right!" Benjamin yelled as he took the wheel once more and turned the ship to the left. The crew did as told and landed several chain shots onto a frigate moving in to ram them. Before the foe ship could finish the maneuver, an allied ship took it down with a series of round shots, causing the crew on board to have to get to the emergency boats, all while carrying the poor man shot in his crotch to safety.

"Put 'em out of their misery?" Samantha asked as her stick blazed with a bright flame.

"No, let them run. They don't have any intentions of fighting anymore." Nathan replied as his Foresight deactivated and his eyes returned to orange from white.

"As much as I dislike seeing others in _that_ kind of pain, I'd certainly love to hear his tale!" Benjamin added with a laugh. Oscar and Nathan couldn't help stifling a few laughs.

"Hmm… Alright."

"That is just too cruel to endure…" Oscar remarked with a nervous chuckle.

A Shadow Ball launched from Le Paroi De Fer begged to differ, though.

"AGH!"

"There's still a battle ahead of us!" Benjamin shouted as Le Paroi narrowly dodged a few grapeshot bags thrown by a brig. "Return fire!"

"Fire? How about a little lightning?" Taryn parkoured her way up a scouting tower and let loose a Thunderbolt down onto the brig.

"That de-masted them, but only their fore!" A Buizel yelled up.

"Then I'll take care of the rest…" Angel mumbled as she narrowed her eyes before firing an Ice Beam at the remaining masts.

"Just a little more! Keep pushing on!" A Wooper gijinka shouted as she cast a barrage of Mud Shots at a frigate's rudder.

After the battle, the Periculum ships were defeated with those who ran being the only survivors. The Resistance and the Glaceon's forces had lost only one of their own ships, a Man O' War provided by the Resistance.

Once the final Periculum ship, another Man O' War went down in a boarding battle between it and two Resistance brigs.

"So far, the plan is going well." Nathan remarked as he looked around.

Like pirates, they would conquer the territory, defend it, and party right after battle. They were to look as authentic as possible, to throw Periculum off any possible trails they may have left.

"HEY, EVERYONE! ALL THE FOOD IS HERE!" An Unfezant gijinka roared out from above as three fourteen-meter tables carrying all sorts of delectable meals lay there, from steak, chicken, and beef to luxurious vegetables were slowly and very carefully being taken out of the ship's cabins.

"Wait, NO!"

Suddenly, the decks of that particular ship were bombarded by round shot, nearly knocking off everything on the tables. The Pokémon on board hurriedly rushed the tables back into the safety of the cabins, while the scouts tried to see what was attacking them through the fog.

"Who the hell shot!?"

"Not my crew!"

"Neither mine!"

"Don't look at us!"

"Fools!" A new voice exclaimed over a large speaker from the front. "You dared to enter Periculum-controlled waters, defeat the fleet guarding it, and then have the nerve to taunt!" In the next instant, mortar fire rained down from above, dealing plenty of damage to the fleet.

Every captain quickly began steering their ships away to the best of their ability. For their efforts, they weren't as seriously damaged as they would have been, but the damage taken was still heavy.

"I now personally welcome you all to the depths of hell." The voice said in a much more calm, yet sinister voice.

Before them, the fog up front cleared, leaving only thin trails of mist around. Where there was once fog, a large Man O' War now stood tall and proud. Rather than the wooden hulls that every other ship in the battle had, this was something more sturdy, more powerful.

"That's a steel hull." Nathan looked on at the ship, not needing Foresight to see how great an adversary it would be. "We're not going to have a lot of fun fighting this one…"

"Now, perish!" The voice boomed over the speakers. The massive ship slowly turned and began sending a barrage of shots at the fleet, lighting four of the allies' eleven ships on fire.

"Man O' War! He's got incendiary rounds!" A Samurott wielding a bow shouted amidst the panicking soldiers.

"All hands to cannons! Let our ship roar!" The Ice-type captain commanded.

The crew of Le Paroi De Fer loaded up the cannons without a second thought and began firing off round shots in retaliation.

However, the cannonballs all simply slid off the enemy's sturdy hull, eliciting a gasp from a Sunflora gijinka standing on the decks.

"Simple round shots will do nothing against La Ballena!" The voice jeered from the speakers. The steel hulled ship let out another flurry of burning cannonballs at the fleet, causing two more to sink and an extra three to catch fire.

"They're too strong!" A Shellder gijinka yelled.

"You seeing that armor!? It'll dent as much as Registeel's freakin' body!" A Seedot stated.

"At the rate we're going, we'll all be in the water!" A Shelgon cried out.

"Wait a minute…" Nathan trailed off as his eyes began to glow a light hue of orange. "The wood at the stern doesn't seem as strong as anywhere else on their ship!"

"I see that. Good work spotting it!" Sarah commented.

"Uh, guys… Look up!" Taryn yelled.

Up above, the clouds were beginning to stir and crackle with lightning. It seemed as if a whirlpool had formed up above in the gray masses, and the amount of electricity could even be seen flowing in the molecules.

"Thunder, look out!" The Jolteon screamed at the top of her lungs.

Benjamin instantly spun the capstan as fast as he could. Even with the water resistance against Le Paroi's rudder, the captain had managed to move the ship just barely out of the Thunder's way. Everyone on board were thrown to the left side of the ship, and the scouts mustered their all not to fall off their posts.

"What the hell, they can control the lightning!?" Oscar exclaimed.

"This is bad. Very, very bad." Samantha remarked as three more of their ships pondered, leaving two burning ships, a brig carrying food, and Benjamin's three ships.

"Help us!" A Poochyena called as the survivors of the ships began swimming off to Le Paroi De Fer and the other three ships still in good condition.

"All hope is lost!" The enemy captain roared out. "You shall all taste the wrath of the Berserker!"

Instantly, lightning struck one of Benjamin's three ships. However, insulated lining managed to fend off most, but not all of the damage. A loud cracking noise reverberated throughout the area, but the barquentine's masts still held strong, albeit a little wobbly.

"All hands at cannons, aim for the stern! That's her weakest link in the chain!" Benjamin ordered.

"Fire!" An Eevee gijinka called out. Only a few of the projectiles managed to hit the stern of La Ballena due to the turn it made to keep the back safe.

Mortar fire rained from the opposing Man O' War and onto whatever remained of the fleet. The ships all quickly steered away, and had to turn their opposite directions as a barrage of thunderbolts rained from the clouds and into the paths the fleet were taking. One of the two burning ships exploded due to the magazine, while the other sank as lightning and mortar fire smashed its wooden hull to bits.

"They're leading their targets!" A Phanpy gijinka exclaimed.

"Not good…" Sarah cursed under her breath.

"We can't let them sink the ship carrying our freaking food!" A Houndoom roared as he got on board one of Benjamin's ships, a brig.

"We're about to die here, and all you can think of is the food!?" A Marill retorted.

Benjamin maneuvered the schooner closer to the opponent to fire more broadsides with better precision. The cannons found their marks, dealing significant damage to the stern, but instantly, La Ballena turned and rammed right into Le Paroi De Fer.

"Here it comes…!"

With a mighty crash, the two ships- one of metal and one strategically built-wood and metal plating smashed right into each other. The crews of both ships both stood their ground. The angle at which they collided kept either side from being able to board the other.

"The lightning's stopped attacking us." Angel looked up at those words and true- the hellish rain of thunder was only attacking at the desperate Resistance ship and the other two of Benjamin's fleet.

"Halt to loading!" The Shiny Glaceon ordered.

"What's wrong, captain!?" The Aurorus quartermaster asked through the gunfire and incendiary shots being deflected by the numerous Pokémon moves. Explosions rang out in the background as the crew on board fought with all their might to keep Le Paroi De Fer and its allies from taking any incendiary rounds.

"Load the experimental shots!" He commanded.

The same Eevee who ordered the crew to fire turned to face the captain standing behind the wheel on the stern.

"But sir, did Sir Ben not say that it's too dangerous in a storm!?"

"It's our only chance at this!"

The crew hesitated for just a moment, but they then went below the decks to bring back strange-looking round shots.

"BRACE YOURSELVES!" Oscar exclaimed as incendiary rounds pushed through the barrage of moves. The higher cannons on the Man O' War missed the ship completely- ropes, rigging, and so forth. The middle nearly killed the crew on board, however, and left some nasty burns on the Grass- and Bug-types that were almost hit. The bottom most cannons hit the hull.

"Someone take them to the bloody infirmary!"

Those who were weakened but could still stand struggled to get the severely wounded down below decks where they'd be much safer than sitting around on the surface.

Half the shots slid right off, while the rest made small dents and left burn marks on the mighty schooner.

"Hmph… Captain, can you get us close in!?" Angel exclaimed against the thunder that nearly struck the side of the ship opposite to La Ballena.

"Not much a chance right now!" The Ice-type replied. "But if we do, execute your plan!"

" _It will have to do._ " The Dark-type thought to herself. " _There's only one explanation to that Thunder support they're getting._ "

"What are you planning?" Taryn asked. Next to her, Nathan managed to shoot an arrow with enough force to throw off the trajectory of one of the burning cannonballs headed for them.

"Hm… You and the other three are free to join me once we're there."

"Huh?"

"Duck!"

The two girls crouched low to evade more burning cannonballs from the Man O' War. Taryn shot a Shadow Ball towards the stern, but missed.

La Ballena was now in position to move in to ram Le Paroi De Fer. With a resounding cheer from their crew, the great Man O' War moved in for another ram attack against the schooner. However, thanks to greater speed, Le Paroi De Fer barely avoided being struck by the larger ship.

Directly after the miss, the great ship was struck by mortar fire from one of the other of Benjamin's ships. The barquentine fired broadsides and landed a few hits onto the great ship's stern, but was met with incendiary rounds sent by the enemy's broadsides, dealing some damage to the craft.

"Cannons are ready!" The Eevee shouted.

"Captain." The Absol mercenary stated from behind the Glaceon. The Ice-type turned to face the Dark-type addressing him. "Save it for after my objective."

"Alright. But if you're going to board that ship, then I'm going too." Benjamin replied. Angel nodded and faced the Man O' War raining mortars, lightning, and flaming metal balls at a Barquentine, Frigate, and a Brig.

Angel glared out into the enemy ship and cast an Ice Beam into its direction. The move landed on the hull, freezing up a small portion of it. Le Paroi De Fer maneuvered towards the opposing ship and dodged another Thunder strike from above. It fired its broadsides into the stern and managed to nick a few cannonballs, dealing moderate amounts of damage.

"Now!" Angel yelled as she took a rope and used it to swing towards the opposing ship.

"Stay aboard, lads! Don't follow me!" Benjamin commanded as he followed Angel onto the Man O' War.

"You're not leaving without me." Sarah stated as she followed the shiny Glaceon on board.

"Alright then… Here goes nothing!" Taryn said as she jumped onto a scouts post and jumped onto an enemy scout post.

"Looks like we aren't following orders after all." Oscar remarked as he took his lance and dove into the water.

"Well… We're not going to be left behind, are we, Samantha?" Nathan queried.

"Not a chance, since the rest of our team is there. Let's go!"

* * *

"Fall."

With a single sweep from her broadsword, Angel downed a Tentacool, Remoraid, and an Araquanid. Nathan fired a barrage of arrows against the enemy crew, Taryn kept the foes distracted with her speed and taunts, Oscar struck down the bulkier opponents with his Liquidation, while Samantha dealt with the enemies with stronger physical defenses.\

"What have we gotten ourselves into this time?" Nathan turned to kick a Deino coming at him with a short sword, then sliced at the attacker with Razor Leaf.

"Just defeat as many as necessary. We push for the lower decks." Angel ordered calmly, as if she didn't just drop a Bisharp, Electabuzz, and a Ninjask in one Night Slash critical. The Absol blocked and parried a blow from a Crawdaunt wielding a claymore, forcing the Water- and Dark-type to the ground.

"Then go! Sarah and I will keep this deck busy!" Benjamin ordered as his hatchet chopped its way into the face of a Heracross. With his foot on the body of the Bug-type, he pulled out the hatchet and quickly stabbed a Ledian that nearly got in a Power-Up-Punch using his dagger.

Sarah mowed down a large group of enemies with her double barreled pistols before stabbing an Ariados with her knife to keep the attacker away.

"Go. We'll be fine." Sarah stated. Angel nodded and motioned for her team to follow her down past the enemies and into the ship's top deck.

* * *

"I must applaud you for making it this far." The captain's voice on the speakers commanded. "But now that you're here, I'm afraid we'll have to extinguish what hopes you have of survival."

At the end of a large room was a strange device emitting visible purple and yellow waves. The rest of the room was fairly empty, as opposed to the corridors and rooms the team fought through in order to reach their current location- the center of the ship.

"Where is he?" Samantha queried. She and her team looked around, careful of any openings from which Periculum could strike.

As the group drew closer to the middle of the room, the doors all shut with heavy metals. The beacon in the room began emitting more purple waves rather than yellow.

"Urgh…!" Angel fell to her knee and clutched her head.

"Angel!"

"D-Dammit…" The mercenary mumbled. She grit her teeth and lifted her gaze to the beacon on the other side of the room. "Destroy that thing… Quickly." The white gijinka bit down on her lip to hold back a scream of agony.

"Gotcha. It's giving me some really bad chills too." Oscar stated as he drew his spear.

The four exchanged glances and rushed the device, only to be knocked a few meters back by a crash from above.

"I hope they serve alcohol in hell." The voice said on the speakers before the audio devices on the walls exploded.

"Grr… RrrrAAAAAAGGGHHH!" The man shouted in front of them, his fists and twin wire-like tails crackling with electricity. The man wore yellow armor with black lightning bolt patterns running across it, and a helmet generating plenty of electricity sat on his head. His eyes glinted purple and he stomped down once, shaking the ship before glaring daggers at the four Resistance Pokémon.

"Oh, crap."

 **[Boss – Shadow Electivire]**

With a blood-curdling scream, the Electric-type boss rushed the group with a Thunderpunch. Samantha, Nathan, and Oscar backed off, allowing Taryn to take the hit with her Volt Absorb ability.

"Heh, that won't work on us!" The Jolteon smirked. However, when the move connected, the Lightning gijinka was sent flying to the wall and hit it with a scream of pain.

"Wait, WHAT!?" Oscar gulped.

"H-How in the hell… That should've healed me!" Taryn stated as she coughed and stood up.

"GRAAAAAHHH!" The Electivire quickly charged Samantha with a Hammer Arm attack. The Braixen barely dodged the move and rolled out of the way of a Thunderpunch thrown her way by the Thunderbolt Pokémon.

"It's a Shadow Pokémon…" Nathan fired a Spirit Shackle. The raging gijinka shook off the power-packed arrow like it was nothing and fired a fast Signal Beam at the owl archer.

"Gah!" Nathan took the blow and was sent back by a couple of meters.

"Pick on someone your own size!" Oscar yelled as he landed a Liquidation on the Electivire, forcing the Electric-type Shadow gijinka to block with a powerful swing of Hammer Arm.

"Burn to cinders!" Samantha let loose a Flamethrower from her wand, striking the boss Pokémon in its back. This was quickly followed by a Shadow Ball from Taryn, who had now recovered more from the initial attack.

A ship-shaking roar escaped the Electivire's mouth as he shook off all the damage as if it was nothing.

"He just doesn't care about all this damage we're doing!" Samantha said with clenched teeth.

"Even though he'll ignore it, his body will think otherwise!" Nathan exclaimed. "We have to bring him down!"

"The device…" Angel said with a shaky breath. "If you can destroy that, it s-should make things easier…!" The Dark-type stated whilst using her broadsword as support for her weakened form.

"Hm. The three of you, keep him busy. I'll snipe that machine down." Nathan stated as he took aim for the device on the wall.

Despite the barrage of Stored Power, Psybeam, and Water Pulse, the Electivire charged through and landed a Thunderpunch onto the Decidueye, sending him back to the other side of the room coupled with an agonized shout.

" _Dammit… This isn't l-looking good!"_ Angel thought to herself as she shakily got to her feet. In the background, Nathan was slowly getting up as well but electricity coursed through the Arrow Quill gijinka's body, paralyzing him.

Samantha, Taryn, and Oscar continued to fight, but it was clear that if they were to be hit by a single attack, they'd be done for.

* * *

Back on the main deck of La Ballena, Benjamin and Sarah fought over plenty of corpses and injured Periculum soldiers. Down in the water, a small shadow could be seen leaving the Man O' War and headed into the fog from whence the ship-of-the-line came from. It went unnoticed due to the efforts of Benjamin, Sarah, and the remainder of the allies' fleet.

"There's too many of them!" Sarah yelled out as she ran her knife into the neck of an Ekans, knocking it out. "We're going to get swarmed like this!" Sarah thrust her hand forward, causing a small blast of energy to knock back a number of Periculum grunts.

"Backup is on the way, just hang in there!" A Watchog scout from the Resistance's frigate yelled. "We're trying to keep these ships up and save the guys down here!"

"We're going to need to back off soon, we can't hold out for much longer!" The Ice-type captain, Benjamin responded.

The duo kept up the fight, but not without plenty of effort not to be struck by one of the many enemies assaulting them.

"Wait a second…" Sarah glanced back towards the ships. "The thunderstorm stopped!"

"Well, it looks like they've done their part." Benjamin mused before blocking a sword-wielding Stantler with his dagger, then delivering a heavy blow with his hatchet to the Normal-type's face.

"Is that star party still down there!?"

"I believe so!" Benjamin quickly spun around to drive his hatchet into the head of a Cacnea gijinka before it could strike with a Needle Arm.

Benjamin narrowed his eyes as he pointed all of his fingers of a single hand towards a Vileplume, then snapping his fingers, creating a flash of white hot flames.

The ship shook frantically, causing the Periculum crew to lose balance along with Benjamin and Sarah who were unprepared for the tremor.

"Oh, sweet heavens…" Benjamin mumbled as he struck down another soldier. "What in the bloody hell is going on down there?"

"Pull them out already! We need to sink that ship!" A Lombre gijinka called out.

Benjamin and Sarah both exchange glances and nod as they begin to push through the enemies towards the door on the deck.

* * *

"Dodge right!" Taryn yelled.

The Floatzel lancer rolled right to avoid a slam from the Electivire. With a roar, the Shadow Pokémon shook off a Flamethrower from behind and retaliated with a Signal Beam aimed for the mage.

Samantha managed to impede the beam in its tracks with a Shock Wave, keeping her safe for the moment.

"That thing is strong…" Nathan mumbled as his arrows couldn't even dent the device. The owl archer stood feebly, having just recovered from paralysis. "I can't destroy it- let's switch places!" Nathan called out as he ran into the fray with a Razor Leaf attack. The move landed a critical hit on the Electivire, who dismissed it as if it wasn't there.

"Alright, I'll give it a spin!" Oscar stated as Taryn used Agility to speed around the Electivire and land a few blows with her clawed knuckles.

The Floatzel ran over to the device, but when the waves reached him, he stopped cold in his tracks and grunted in pain.

"What the heck… This thing…" The Floatzel mumbled. Oscar quickly stepped back and breathed heavily before letting out a series of coughs.

"Oscar, what's wrong!?" Samantha asked. Behind the Fire-type, Taryn was struck by a Signal Beam, while Nathan's foresight was stopped by the Electivire charging with Thunderpunch.

"I-I don't know, but we can't get close to this damn thing!"

"GRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The duo looked back to see the Electivire throw a purple bolt of lightning at them. They screamed in agony as their bodies were shocked by the super-effective shadow move.

"He's got a Shadow move! Watch out!" Taryn shouted as she almost got hit by a Hammer Arm.

"Can you two still fight!?" Nathan asked.

"Ugh… Yeah." Samantha mumbled as she slowly stood up.

"Guh… That stung worse than a normal Electric-type move." The Water-type groaned and shook himself.

The Thunderbolt boss groaned and clutched his head in agony as he screamed in pain. With his eyes turning purple, he rushed Taryn with a Hammer Arm that actually hit the speeding Jolteon.

With a scream, Taryn was sent back to the door she and her friends came from, and with a thud, she stayed down.

"Taryn!" Oscar yelled. Before them, the Electivire let loose another Shadow Bolt attack aimed at him.

Oscar barely dodged the move and countered with a Rock Tomb to slow down the Electivire.

"Maybe this will work!" Samantha shot a Flamethrower at the device, but to no avail as not a scratch or burn mark was found on it.

"No way…" Nathan mumbled.

"What do we do now!?" Oscar slashed the Electivire's torso and backed away before a Thunderpunch could strike him.

* * *

"The door's locked!"

Benjamin kept back as many Periculum soldiers as he could, all while Sarah was attempting to open the heavy iron door. She was trying much harder once she heard a crash and plenty of shouting in the room behind it.

"Sarah, you know the drill with doors like these." The Ice-type said.

"Got it."

The Fennekin gijinka began charging up a searing flame in her body, preparing to fire it at the door. Benjamin continued to fight off the crew assaulting them from the end of the hallway and the surrounding rooms.

* * *

"I'm running out of ideas here!" Oscar shouted as his spear blocked a Hammer Arm, allowing Samantha and Nathan to get in blows with Psybeam and Razor Leaf.

"We can't help Taryn if we're fighting!" Samantha stated as she sidestepped to avoid a Shadow Bolt.

"A Haze would only work against us!" Nathan exclaimed as he shot more Spirit Shackle arrows. "He'll shoot Shadow Bolts everywhere if he can't see anything!"

"Freaking berserkers…" The Braixen mumbled as she threw another Toxic, still missing her target.

"ENOUGH!" The three standing Pokémon all gasped in surprise when they saw a Hammer Arm from the Electivire narrowly block a heavy swipe from Angel's sword.

With considerable effort, their hired mercenary teammate was keeping a deadlock with the beast.

"Go…" The Dark-type said in a raspy voice. "Do something, now!" She screamed as she pulled back only to throw another attack in the form of a Night Slash at the Electivire. The shadow boss glared down the smaller foe, and let out a furious roar, much more angry than when he was fighting the others.

"Angel…"

"I'll help Taryn. You two try to focus your attacks on that thing!" Nathan stated as he quickly ran over to the fallen Jolteon's side.

"You heard him, Samantha. Let's go." Oscar stated. The Fire-type nodded and tossed a Flamethrower over at the strange device while Oscar created a large boulder and hurled it at the device.

This time, the device dented and began spreading the waves around the entire room. The duo attacking it both recoiled from the odd waves touching them but forced their way through the feeling to continue using move after move.

" _It isn't working!_ " Angel thought to herself as she cast her glare to her allies for a moment to see how they were doing. " _If this keeps up…_ " The Absol's eyes dawned in realization for just a moment before she screamed as she fought back a Thunderpunch with her blade. "We need to… Direct his Shadow B-Bolt… at that thing!" The Absol yelled.

"Great, how do we do that!?" Oscar queried.

"…I've got it."

Thanks to a Potion from Nathan, Taryn was back on her feet.

"Samantha, do you have one of _those_ gems?"

"Angel, come over here!"

" _W-What are they…_ " The Absol's vision blurred faintly as she looked at her allies. She shook her head and stepped backwards to evade a Thunderpunch.

"Hurry up!"

After a moment's hesitation, Angel withdrew and fell back with her allies. The Electivire let out a low growl as his tails and helmet began to spark with purple lightning.

"Grr… AAAAAAGGGHHH!" A full powered Shadow Bolt was launched from the Boss' body, coming straight for the main cast.

"Here goes nothing…!" Samantha held up a pink gem, and focused her power into it.

The shadow move came, and was absorbed into the gem. The Electivire panted and stood still but wary, seeming to be unable to move from the amount of energy it spent and the damage it took.

"Uurrgh… Deflect the damage from special fire… Mirror Coat!" Samantha chanted before turning around to fire the move into the beacon.

What followed was an immense burst of shadowy electric energy into the device. With a loud but small explosion, the device crumbled to a heap of parts on the floor and stopped emitting waves.

The Electivire froze up before shaking itself and glaring down the crew silently.

Angel panted and required Oscar and Nathan to be able to even stand. The mercenary, however, kept her glare onto the opposing Electivire.

Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing a Shiny Glaceon and a Fennekin gijinka, both pointing their pistols as they slowly walk into the room.

"Captain Benjamin!"

"Grr…" The Electivire charged the duo with intent to kill in its fierce eyes. The two sidestepped and began shooting.

However, the Thunderbolt Pokémon jumped as they began firing, and headed out the door they came from.

"W-Wha…"

Following an almighty roar, the sounds of screaming and fighting echoed from the hallway.

"We survived…" Taryn let out an exasperated sigh as she fell to her knees.

"Ugh… I thought we were done for." Samantha mused.

"Angel, are you alright?" Nathan asked.

"I… I'll be fine now…" The Absol coughed before standing up independently, but recoiled back and clutched her head.

"Damn, that thing sure did a number on you."

"I don't know why…"

"What happened?" Sarah questioned.

"There's no time!" Benjamin exclaimed. "We have to get off this ship now and back to Le Paroi!"

"Can't we just take it easy after that!?" Samantha asked back in an annoyed tone.

"Alright sure, all of you can." Benjamin replied. "But please do note, you will be pierced by several iron bits, and you'll be at the bottom of this river. But if you're alright with that, then be my guest."

The Glaceon then stood there, waiting for a reply.

"…Screw you."

* * *

"Jump!"

The team managed to jump from La Ballena, which was now burning down, to Le Paroi.

"Get all of our mainsails and topsails on the wind. We're taking it slow and easy now."

Once Le Paroi De Fer and the other allies backed away from the ship, Benjamin gave out orders as he pointed the left broadside of the schooner to the burning Man O' War.

"Easy now, lads. Ready… Aim… And fire."

Le Paroi fired its left broadsides, and the moment the cannonballs came into contact with the Man O' War, they exploded, causing the metal armor to fall off bit by bit. With openings, the other three ships fired, bringing La Ballena to ponder.

Benjamin then pointed the right side of the ship and ordered to fire the right broadsides. The explosive cannonballs did the last of it, and the ship sunk down to the depths of the river.

After the silence of watching La Ballena sink, the crews onboard all four vessels erupted into cheer and song.

"We can bring the food out now!"

"YEAH!"

* * *

"Those were fine orders, Captain. And I have to add, this ship is a lot better than I thought it was." Nathan finished before eating into a round apple then smirking at the jealous-looking fox standing next to him.

"It's still not over yet, huh?" Samantha queried almost mockingly, causing Nathan to laugh a bit.

At the capstan of the vessel, Sarah and Benjamin both stood, the former eating a slice of cake and the other simply watching everyone else.

"Benjamin? Are you not going to eat at all?" The Fennekin gijinka questioned.

"No, I'm fine." The Shiny Glaceon replied.

"I can know that there is still a plate full of blueberries there."

"Berries? Well then, let's go. It would be a shame though, if there aren't any cherries to go with it." The Ice-type replied.

"Wait, are those cherries?" The Fire-type queried. "Mine!"

"Ahh… That hits the spot." Taryn mumbled as she downed a can of softdrink.

"I'm so freaking glad that the ship carrying this stuff was completely intact." Oscar remarked.

"Except the wood carrying the sails being torn." Samantha added.

"It's called a mast, dimwit." An Eevee bitterly stated as he passed by.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Well… That was rather rude." Nathan commented for his silenced friends.

"Eh, don't mind him. He's one of those sailors who get annoyed when one can't identify the name of a ship's parts." A Buizel crewman stated as he walked along, munching on an orange.

Meanwhile, though, on the bow of the ship, stood a lone figure clad in white with a sword sheathed on her side.

The Absol glanced back at her allies and sighed, looking towards the empty spot in the water where the Man O' War sunk. She peered into the water, as if noticing a shadow moving around—

"Angel? If I'm not mistaken with the name, anyway." The Absol turned to face the captain's partner- Sarah.

"…What?"

"I noticed something… You're fairly lonesome."

"Why should that bother you?" The mercenary questioned, turning her gaze back into the water. " _Nothing there now… Perhaps I'm tired._ "

"Oh, it's… Just that you… How you act reminds me of Benjamin." The Absol gave the Fennekin a questioning look. "I'm not talking about this Benjamin, but the way he acted about four years ago."

"…Should that matter?" The Dark-type queried.

"Not really, but…" The Fire-type paused. "It's just… You don't meet many Pokémon out there who are like that."

The Fox Pokémon looked towards the Fresh Snow standing behind the wheel, conversing with the Aurorus.

"…So?" Angel asked.

"Oh, it's uh… Just never mind."

"Hmph…"

Angel continued to watch the water.

"Are you watching the still waters?"

"Why should that matter to you?" The mercenary quizzed back.

"Did you see anything? I'm considering someone may have escaped…"

"No. Nothing is in there." The Absol replied.

"All on board." Benjamin stated, gaining Le Paroi De Fer's attention. "Today was a rough day and battle. We will put to land, and we will rest up before infiltrating the base. Quartermaster, You'll be taking Le Paroi, Farkas, and the Hummingbird back to the Runswick docks. Wait for my further orders."

"Aye, Captain!" The whole crew responded.

Until then, the Pokémon all had a merry time. After a while had passed, the ships all left the area. Once they were ready again, they would head back there to hold the position to keep Periculum from re-taking it.

* * *

"So, they have captured the waterway?"

"Yes… And we've lost connection to the Electric Berserker."

"Hm… Impressive of them to defeat a Berserker and hold their own against La Ballena. I'll just have to find a way to reward them, no?"

"They're not the Resistance, miss…"

"Excuse me?"

"I-I mean, Master…"

"That's better. Now, why don't you and the others inform the captain to set out to another base? I've got a few preparations to make before heading to the Southeast."

"Yes, my liege."

"Good. Once you're done, report back to _him._ "

With a nod, the cloaked soldier ran into the rainy alleyway and into the city.

The girl chuckled to herself and held up a sword, hidden in the darkness of the night.

"This will be entertaining."


	11. C11 - Burning Wrath

Shadows in War, Segment One, Chapter 11 – Burning Wrath

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer, because reasons.**_

 _I'm in school now. Wish me luck in hell. Hehehe. I'll probably be quite busy everyday, but I'll give it my all to be able to keep writing (and reading) here to keep up with my weekly-update standard._

 _This next chapter will be very heavy on the fantasy part, since I decided to give you a peek at Benjamin's story._

 _Oh yeah, I decided to reference the franchise I'm still new to but enjoying a ton. Should be VERY obvious… And I've got big plans for the story's events._

* * *

"…You mean to tell me that they escaped!?"

"It's no wonder we couldn't find the enemy captain's corpse…"

In the water was a submarine, slightly dented from the pressure of La Ballena sinking on top of it. It read "CRAFT 3" on it, and it even had a hook that connected it to the very bottom of the sunken Man O' War.

"At least they shouldn't know that we're all with the Resistance."

"Hopefully."

The fleet slowly began turning away, unaware that the quiet beeping coming from the submerged portion of the submarine slowly died out.

* * *

"Ah, that really hits the spot~"

"You can say that again."

Samantha and Taryn both let out a contented sigh as the hot water soothed their nerves. Across them on the rocks sat a silent Absol that seemed to be asleep rather than just being herself.

"See? Told you this was so worth it." The Jolteon said.

"Yeah, yeah… Let's just be careful not to stay in here too long."

"But aren't Fire-types like you immune to being overheated?"

"It's my skin, Taryn."

"Oh. Good point."

Angel slowly opened her eyes to take a glance at the Fire- and Electric-types chatting. She took a deep breath before opening her red eyes.

" _Even I have to admit that this is a much needed rest._ " The Absol thought to herself. She cast her gaze to her right where her broadsword's sheath lay, with the hilt of the blade being the only thing being seen on the sword. " _That kind of Shadow Pokémon isn't like any ordinary one… Nor that beacon they established. It's a guarantee that Periculum will have more of those in stock, so…_ "

"Angel, hop in! The water's great." Samantha called.

"Yeah. This'll make anyone feel better after a battle like that!" Taryn added.

The Absol shook her head and tore her eyes away from the duo beckoning her to step into the soothing water. For her, the heat of the rocks and the quiet atmosphere were all she needed to regain her strength.

* * *

"That is so much better."

On the other side of the thick log wall in the hot springs were an owl archer and a weasel lancer both half-asleep in steaming hot water.

"The tension of being on a ship that could sink and fighting a really strong shadow Pokémon? That does a number on you."

"No kidding."

"Hmm… Maybe we should listen to the girls more often."

"Why's that?" Oscar asked.

"This was their idea, remember?"

"Oh, right… Then we should definitely let them have their way more often!" Oscar said casually with a small fist bump.

"It's something about the water here that makes it more soothing than an ordinary hot spring." Nathan remarked.

"How can you tell?"

"I've been to just a few when I was in Virtue City." The Ghost-type replied. "The water there was luxurious, but nothing compared to here."

"Heh." The Floatzel chuckled. "That's because the city's water isn't taken straight from nature. The water in these springs are more natural and fresh."

"I understand that, but this somehow feels like it's a little different."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point. This does feel better than usual." The Water-type stated. "Maybe it's 'cause we're so tired."

"Perhaps."

"Gee, Periculum sure stepped up their game with that device, don't you think?"

"Yes… Emitting purple waves that stop us in our tracks."

"I get the feeling those waves were controlling that Electivire." Oscar began. "After all, it stopped attacking us once we managed to destroy it and it even mowed through the enemies on board."

"Yeah. But for it to target a single Pokémon while keeping a powerful control over a higher-leveled Shadow Pokémon isn't any easy feat." The owl archer remarked.

"Nathan. I kinda feel like… There was more to those waves."

"The yellow ones were evidently signals to get the Electivire to send off lightning bolts at us… So what do you mean?"

"The purple ones. Something wasn't right about them."

"Of course… It caused us to flinch when we tried to approach the device."

"Yeah, but think about it. Angel's the strongest of us, but she suffered the most from it."

"Maybe its effects work better on more powerful Pokémon."

"Not to brag, buddy, but I don't think we're weak to that thing either. We couldn't dent it, but…"

"…Now that I think about it, you're right."

"See where I'm coming from? There's no way even Periculum could come up with a device that targets only the biggest threat."

"Not to mention what happened to Angel when the waves got to her."

"And how it got much worse the more they touched her."

"True… Maybe when we return to guard the post, we can see if the devices' remains can be found in the water."

"Yep. I'll go look for them later."

"For now…"

"...Let's enjoy this while we're here." The duo said as they let the heated water soothe their nerves.

* * *

Sarah and Benjamin stood before a number of hills in a mountainous area just off Runswick, where the main cast exited out of their base and headed into said town.

The Fire- and Ice-types turned to see a familiar mercenary standing behind them with her arms crossed.

"What might you be doing here?" Sarah queried.

"I could ask you the same." The Dark-type asked back. "You seem to have an agenda… And I'm quite bored."

"Well, believe it or not, if you're willing to fight ghosts of the past, then you are free to follow us." Benjamin replied.

"Hmph… I'll tag along."

[ _Angel joined Benjamin's party. That, and I'm too lazy to write anything here._ ]

* * *

Small metal doors depicted rust and corrosion from what may have been ages ago. Despite the wear and tear the doors showed, they wouldn't open.

Benjamin placed his hand onto the door, causing it to open slightly with a faint glow where the Shiny Glaceon's hand was. Through the door were stairs that were eons old.

"I really am the Chosen One, aren't I?" Benjamin mused.

"At first, neither did I believe your cousin. But now, I'm convinced." Sarah stated.

Angel watched the two a few feet away, not bothering with their conversation. She simply stared out into the tall hills surrounding them, almost enclosing them and hiding the entrance well.

"You said you were going to tag along, weren't you?" Benjamin asked as he and Sarah turned to the swordswoman standing.

"Just keep your weapon ready." Sarah said.

"I'm always ready for anything." Angel replied blankly.

* * *

With a torch in her hand, Sarah walked in between Angel and Benjamin, looking around the dark cave.

Angel's broadsword was at the ready, as well as Benjamin's hatchet and dagger. So far, the walk had been fairly quiet. The Absol took the time to examine her surroundings- this was more of an ancient ruin rather than an ordinary cave. Strange symbols and drawings were carved into walls of marble that furnished the otherwise craggy walls of the cave.

The Ice-type captain led them through paths and wider tunnels as well as old staircases and a strange substance that seemed to be partially made from dust. The mercenary clad in white thought them to be decomposed skeletons which could have been there for many ages.

"Above!" Benjamin shouts. Angel instantly whirls around and fires a Shadow Ball into a Haunter wielding a wooden spear. The move caused the Ghost-type to dissipate, leaving behind a scream before the Pokémon and its weapon turned to ashes.

"Hmph… Cranky Ghost-types." Angel mused.

Around the trio were a gathering of Gastly and Duskull gijinka, all wielding old swords, axes, lances, and bows all ready to break.

"Do not try to attack them, it will be futile!" Benjamin ordered. "Parry their attacks, that's the only way they'll be destroyed!"

"I don't know what game you're playing at…" Angel mumbled as she sliced into a pair of Duskull with a Night Slash, causing the two to dissipate and scream. However, the duo, alongside the Haunter lancer all respawned before her, ready to strike with insane gazes. "Hmph… This isn't normal. Not even for a Ghost-type."

"Not good." Sarah dropped her torch and readied her weapons.

The Glaceon captain parried a hit from a bronze claymore, causing the blade to shatter into dust. Along with it, the Gastly wielder let loose an unearthly scream before vanishing.

Angel blocked a hit and parried a swing from an axe. The weapon and the Duskull holding it both vanished, leaving behind another scream of pure agony.

"There's too many of them for us to keep doing this… We have to move forward or flinch them!" Angel exclaimed as she blocked several hits and backed off so as not to be struck from above by a heavy spiked ball from a Gastly.

"Hold on, this will distract them!" The Glaceon stated as a burning orange flame appeared in his hand. The Ice-type tossed the orb into the air, creating a flash that paralyzed the ghosts for a moment. "This way!"

The Ice-type dashed down a set of stairs, followed closely by a Fennekin and Absol gijinka with weapons drawn, in the Fennekin's case, a long knife and torch out.

A scream from in front of them halted their progress as a Haunter glared them down with soulless eyes.

"Stay out of our way." Angel's Night Slash pierced through the Haunter's chest, causing it to dissipate only for am oment before it came from behind and tried to strike.

The Absol blocked and parried the hit, causing the Haunter to writhe in agony as its rapier vanished into thin air along with the bearer.

"We keep moving." Benjamin stated, leading the two girls further down the passage.

As the group traveled further down, fighting off the strange Ghost-type Pokémon attacking them, the cavern opened into a wider passage. Eventually, the trio come to a dead end with a sealed door.

They turn to face their opponents that all chased them down with nothing in their eyes- not even the intent to kill.

However, a ghostly figure appeared in between the duo clad in a regal cloak lined with gems at the bottom.

The Leafeon ghost was out of place amongst the anonymous ghosts all snarling at him and the living Pokémon behind him.

The Grass-type held a broadsword in a cup hilt carrying a bronze and silver blade. A pair of gems were on the base of the blade where it met the hilt.

The Leafeon dashed into the enemies and with a single swipe, all the ghosts faded away into dust.

Following that, the Grass-type apparition slowly turned to the Glaceon, Fennekin, and Absol all standing at the door, watching with a serious look, a blank look, and an unamused look, respectively.

The ghostly Pokémon opened its mouth slowly, as if not having used it for eons.

"You… Varim… Benjamin Varim, if I'm not mistaken…" The ghost-type said in an ethereal voice. "I've heard of you, a legend foretelling of your name… The name of a man who would lift this curse." The Leafeon began. "You come here to seek my weapon, do you not?"

"Aye." The Shiny Glaceon replied. "I was informed that a tomb was here in Driasia."

"It had taken you long enough, but at the very least, you are not late." The Verdant ghost stated. "Carry my blade. Find that you may have a use of it some day."

The sword and the Leafeon both vanish, leaving a yellow silhouette of the broadsword carried by the Verdant Pokémon. The figure circled the Shiny Pokémon twice before dashing to his front and vanishing.

The next moment, Angel and Sarah found that the sword itself was now in Benjamin's hands.

"It materializes in my hand, and when I stop gripping it…" The Glaceon let go of the blade. This caused the weapon to fade away. "…It dematerializes, returning to its rightful owner."

"Just like the myths and rumors." Sarah remarked.

"I suppose we're done here?" Angel asked quietly.

"Quite. Now the only problem is getting out of here." The Ice-type turned and walked past the Fire- and Dark-types to the door. He placed his hand onto the door. With a white flash, the trio vanished into a thin light.

* * *

Where once was an old, rusted metal door was now part of the rock that made the miniature mountain. Looking around, Angel could see that they were back at the entrance where the hills enclosed the space they stood in.

"To foreigners, Lausia is a strange place…" Sarah mumbles.

"…But the Varim family is beyond most Lausians." The Shiny Glaceon captain stated.

"A land of magic… Unthinkable to the rest of the world." Angel remarked.

"We should head back into town now. I suppose your allies are looking for you." Sarah stated as she traded glances with the Dark-type.

* * *

"You done yet?" Nathan asked. Before him and Oscar stood Samantha and Taryn with a bag loaded with gems.

"Yep." The Braixen replied. "Going to all the stores to check what's the best is really worth it."

"Well, we are new around here…" Taryn mused.

"Yeah, alright, let's go look for the others." Oscar stated with a deadpan. "They're probably all getting ready to set off for the waterway."

"Actually, it's the other way around." Sarah's voice chimed as she approached the group followed by Benjamin and Angel.

"Where have you been?" Nathan inquired of the Absol.

"I simply joined them to run an errand." Angel replied. "We'd best head back to the waterway. Periculum won't be long to re capture the area."

"Right, good thinking. We'd best get a move on."

* * *

For several days, the crews all held their position and even brought whatever reinforcements they could get to hold the place. No other ships approached the area, and it had been quiet at the large scale base not very far off from the post.

The ships would return only to get some sleep, supplies, rations, and the like. For the most part, the fleet patrolled the area, leaving the main cast to do as they wished.

"Alright, let's see…" Oscar mumbled as he searched around underwater with a flashlight.

The riverbed was deeper than it looked and had the sunken parts of the Man O' War and other ships from the battle. The area was devoid of Pokémon life, making the place look like a ship graveyard.

"Down here, everyone." Oscar said as he waved his arm towards the wreck of La Ballena down at the riverbed.

The spear-wielding Floatzel swam down deeper, followed by a pair of Samurott, and a few Buizel as well. The Water-types all entered into the now rusting halls of the once great ship.

"Okay… Let's see what we can find. Let's split up and look for anything that might be useful."

"At this point, there probably isn't any working gadget down here." A Buizel remarked.

"Yeah, well, we're looking anyway. And you guys did sign up for this." Oscar replied as he propelled himself lightly into a room.

The Samurott and Buizel gijinkas all exchanged glances with a nod before splitting into teams of threes and twos. They all ferreted about the halls and rooms, inspecting computers and other gadgets lying around.

"Nothing here, sir."

"Hm… Keep looking." Oscar replied as he picked up a drenched book. "And you don't really need to call me that…" The Floatzel said in a mildly embarrassed tone after putting the book down.

"Computers are all shorted out in this room." A Samurott stated as he floated out of one of the rooms.

"Figures… They've gotta have something down here." The Water-type mused as he floated into another room. "Over here. This is where I fought that Electivire."

The group swam into the other side of the room where the device's fragments lay on the ground. Larger pieces were either destroyed or coated in rust while some of the other parts were completely missing from the original device.

A Samurott took a bag and placed the device's parts for safekeeping while the others continued looking around.

"This place gives me the creeps." A Buizel commented.

"You can still feel a little of that thing's waves in this room…" Oscar mused as he looked around and poked at a piece of the wall with his spear.

The wall gave way to a surprisingly dry hallway with a strange barrier keeping water from getting in. The group all turned to him and followed the Sea Weasel into the hallway.

"What is this?" The Samurott's voice echoed in the empty hallway. At the end was a bookshelf and a computer emitting a few lights indicating it was on.

"Jackpot." Oscar remarked. "I'll have to bring Taryn here."

"But how would you get a Jolteon down into this depth without drowning her?" The Buizel asked.

"Hm… I dunno, can anyone use Bubble?"

* * *

After some time, the diving crew all boarded Le Paroi De Fer. The Buizel and Samurott were welcome to fresh food, while Oscar to the warm welcomes of his friends.

"So what's this?" Taryn asked as she pointed at the plastic-covered computer and book.

"I've got no idea. It was in a hidden hallway behind that room where the big guy attacked us." Oscar replied us.

"How do you know this thing is working again?" Taryn asked as she tapped on the monitor's screen.

"Because the hallway was dry." Oscar replied. The others all gave him confused looks, causing him to sigh. "I don't know either."

"Alright fine, I'll have a look at it…" Taryn mumbled. "Does this ship have electricity?" The Jolteon queried.

"We're going to have to wait for the captain to come back up." Nathan stated.

"What? He went down there too?"

"You didn't pass by him?"

"No. The others and I just took what we could save and come back here."

"Great. Now we play the waiting game." Samantha sighed.

A diving bell was hoisted back up onto the ship and with it, a Shiny Glaceon and a Fennekin gijinka in soaked clothes. The main cast (with the exception of Angel) all stared at them weird, while Oscar blinked twice and gave the duo a confused look.

"Hang on, you're not Water-types…" Oscar commented as the two walked over.

"Well, all it takes is a metric crap ton of practice." Sarah replied.

"No, we mean your clothes…" Nathan added.

"Only Water-types ever go into the water without changing… And that's since our clothes are all waterproofed and stuff…" The Floatzel trailed off as the dripping wet Glaceon and Fennekin came to a halt before the plastic carrying a computer and its parts.

"Well, one thing to know about Lasuians is that they pay no mind to having completely wet clothes." Benjamin replied. "We're not accustomed to swimwear."

"Aye." An Eevee stated.

"Hang on, but Sarah's a FIRE-type." Samantha stated. "Doesn't it bother you at all?" The Braixen questioned the lower-evolution.

"As much as it is a little uncomfortable, even Fire-types in Lausia practice swimming and holding their breath underwater. Our country is known for its naval history."

"…Alright, I think I've seen everything outside this screwed up nation." Taryn remarked.

"Agreed."

"We need electricity." Angel said, gaining everyone's attention.

"I pay no mind to it. With the technology in Lausia constantly growing, we've been rapidly accelerating our magic casts to be able to help us use these technologies."

"But we don't even need magic or Electric-types to use electricity here…" Taryn mumbled.

"Only in desperate situations would a Lausian use such magic." Sarah replied.

"Cut right to it- do you have electricity?" Angel queried.

"I can do the cast that will allow me to transmit power to the system, but I can only hold it for an hour." Benjamin replied. The Absol sighed and then turned to her Jolteon ally. Nathan, Samantha, and Oscar followed the mercenary's stare and then began smiling.

"…Why are you all looking at me?"

* * *

"I freaking hate all of you."

The Jolteon was typing away at the keyboard, trying to get the password while a series of wires and plugs were connected to an extension cord powered by the Electric-type's hair.

"I'm so sorry for this, Taryn, but it needs to be done." Samantha said whilst holding back her laughter.

"Screw you!" Taryn retorted as a little more electricity surged into the extension cord. "This is much harder with this thing snapped onto my head!"

Oscar was literally thrown back into the water by the Jolteon so as not to be heard laughing while Nathan and Samantha fought fiercely with their consciousness to keep from laughing. Angel, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind Taryn's discomfort one bit.

"Hmph… We're out of options until we return to Runswick." The Dark-type stated.

"I know, I know… But I swear we could've taken up that magic thing Benjamin and Sarah mentioned!" The yellow gijinka replied as she scratched her hair.

"Come to think of it, I did learn the magic a while back. And one thing to note is that magic gets a multiplier of ten when two Pokémon cast on one object."

"SEE!?" Taryn yelled. "Get… This… Damn… Thing… Off… Me…" The Jolteon replied as her head emitted a little steam while the computer received the right amount of electricity to function normally, as well as its monitor and CPU. "GOT IT!" The Jolteon yelled.

"Too bad we can't get that off until we're done with this computer." Nathan added with a chuckle.

"Again, I freaking hate all of you people." Taryn stated as she clicked on folder after folder. "Let's see… All the history and data was wiped. Well, almost all of it."

"Drat… What survived, then?"

"This." The Jolteon said as she opened a document.

"Did I miss anything?" Oscar asked in an amused tone as he boarded the ship.

"Not really. Get over here." Nathan said.

"Cracked it yet?"

"I'll freaking crack you for laughing so hard." Taryn retorted. Oscar laughed a little nervously at that.

"P-Please don't shock me…"

"I will if you don't sit down." The Jolteon replied with a look that told of brutal, savage murder.

"Do what she says, Oscar." Samantha ordered with a small laugh.

"OK… Anyway… To coincide with the plans of the President's right hand Pokémon, we have started with the beacons necessary to control these special-tier Shadow Pokémon. We shall refer to these as Phantasmal Beacons."

"Phantasmal Beacons?"

"Phantasmal Beacons are required to take full control of higher-classed Shadow Pokémon while aboard any craft, be it a ship, plane, or any larger vehicle in a convoy, such as a tank. The Beacon not only gives access to the Shadow Pokémon's elemental power, but also signals our nearby allies to bring in support with the element matching the Shadow Pokémon under control." The Jolteon read.

"Geez, these guys are ruthless."

"Along with carrying a certain element, these beacons, as stated earlier, give complete control of a higher-classed Shadow Pokémon, particularly those created in Project F… These guys have another freaking project?" Taryn asked.

"They have practically all Driasia's money and power… So I can see them having more."

"Hm. Carrying on… The beacons emit waves that correspond to an element and waves that grant the owner control over _all_ Shadow Pokémon in a given area, depending on the beacon's build."

"…Say what now?"

"These waves give a mild power boost to the Pokémon under control, and have a variety of effects on the higher-tier Shadow Pokémon that need not be detailed."

"So I guess it makes them more violent." Oscar stated.

" _Hm…_ "

"Aside from that, the Shadow Pokémon within range of a beacon's waves- whether at visible distance or not- _will_ obey any command given to them by those with power over the Phantasmal Beacon itself." Taryn read.

* * *

"Now, burn it."

A massive surge of flames cloaked in a dark purple aura reduced everything within the room to ashes. Even the walls, built to resist extreme temperatures, were showing signs of heavy damage.

In the center of the burned room, a lone girl floated above the flames eating away at the floor. She donned on a white t-shirt and a long, sky blue skirt with white collars of silk wrapped around her body. On her back were three pairs of wings, giving her the appearance of a fireball.

Her soulless blue eyes slowly turned to the melting glass near the ceiling where a few gijinkas stood.

A Phantasmal Beacon hung on the wall in the room behind the glass, emitting orange and dark purple waves. The Pokémon controlling it all wore headphones and glasses that matched each other- an odd design that seemed like it was for style rather than performance.

"Very good. Sleep."

With the command, the Volcarona gijinka's shadowy aura dissipated and the girl fell into the fire, asleep. The flames however, didn't singe her the slightest bit, and she slept soundly, despite igniting the whole room around her.

"The beacons work…"

"The President was right when he said that the defeated specimens have a use." One of the Pokémon, a Bisharp commented.

"Yes… _Her_ creativity is quite high for a master Shadow like herself."

"It brings about plenty of possibilities. Bring Caster back to her cell. Her power will be of use in the battle."

"Sir, yes, sir." A voice came from behind the walls, where footsteps began to sound through the halls. The figure who spoke last chuckled to himself.

"Although the Electric-type Berserker is gone, the Caster is proving to be even more powerful, fueled with the feelings of vengeance and hatred."

"Indeed. Now, I suggest we repair this room… Get it ready for the Assassin."

* * *

 _So I'm ALMOST late. I hope you read the notes I put above, because even though it's the first week, I'll be weighed down further from here on out. I'm past Grade 10 / 4th Year, if it helps your imagination._

 _The heat in this freaking place is insane… If you weren't used to it, you'd be on fire if you step out of a shady area, and need aircon for the shady areas._

 _Hey, if there's something interesting that you think will go well in this story, do let me know. The next couple of chapters will detail the main cast (and my little brother's cast) going through with their mission- to infiltrate one of the three major Periculum bases in Driasia. Well, as if there's any base outside the country._

 _I know I'm lacking that whole "civil war" feel, which will be restored once the team finishes their mission. Not everything goes according to plan, remember that. They'll have a need to do something to keep back the coming situation._

 _If anyone's feeling GTAV Heists on PSN, hit me up here or on PSN- DarkShade10123. We make fast money. :3_

 _Anyway, since I don't have anything left to say, I'll see you all again next update, seven days from now… Hopefully, if I'm not hampered down._

 _Shade, out._


	12. C12 - The Raid I

Shadows in War, Segment One, Chapter 12 – The Raid I

* * *

 ** _Disclaimer: I only own the characters and story. Benjamin, Sarah, Le Paroi De Fer, The Farkas (the bark), and the Hummingbird (the other ship not from the Resistance) belong to my little brother, and the rest, we have nothing to do with._**

 _So I mentioned a Water-type elite team. I'll be talking about them in detail later, but for now, their species are: Vaporeon, Gorebyss, Swampert, and a Wailord. While the story is mainly about Angel, Taryn, Samantha, Oscar, and Nathan more than anyone else, I've got big plans for pretty much every side character the story offers._

 _For the sake of rules and formality, this chapter may or may not contain a bit more swearing and_ maybe _a bit of gore. Just a little bit. If I should change this story to M over those few scenes, let me know._

 _Sorry for being late, btw. Lots of things to do with school._

 _Also, I wanted to address something: human weapons, such as swords, spears, axes, guns, bullets, and anything that you wouldn't see in a normal Pokémon game work like Pokémon moves- they don't kill instantly/take off a limb quickly as they do in real life. Rather, they just do decent damage. For example:_

 _A regular claymore would have an average power of 65~70, making it as effective as moves such as Aerial Ace, U-Turn, and the like. Angel's broadsword has a power of 90-ish, making its regular hits comparable to Flamethrower, Ice Beam, and Thunderbolt, while Oscar's spear could be around 80 making it as great as Scald, Psyshock, and Poison Jab in terms of power._

 _As for when Oscar uses Liquidation via spear or Angel uses a Night Slash, the weapon's power shifts accordingly. For this example, Night Slash has 70 power while her sword is 90. An average is taken, making the blow's power 80. For Oscar, since the move has a higher power than the weapon (85 move, 80 weapon) the weapon will copy the move's power._

 _However, if let's say a weapon's power is about 60 or so and it tries to use a move with a power that's_ 20 points above, _then the average is taken. If let's say a knife has 40 power and tries to use Shadow Claw, the attack's power will be 55 instead. This would mean that an "unarmed" Shadow Claw would be stronger than using it with our example knife. This same principle also applies to situations where a weapon is much stronger than a move, like with the Angel Night Slash example above (90 power sword, 70 power move, 20 difference)._

 _Benjamin and Sarah's pistols also work the same way, at least here in my story._

 _I'd explain how items and those move-gems work too, but given that this is long, I'll save it for another chapter. It's only just been introduced, it isn't being used too much, and besides- I think it's more fun to let you people think about how it works and form your own systems. It's how I got to make these. :3_

* * *

Numerous splashes were almost silent underwater. Le Paroi De Fer and the rest of the fleet all floated on the surface of the waterway above the Pokémon diving down into the depths where sunken ships rested.

Each were wearing their regular clothes, but two who stood out were a Gorebyss and a Vaporeon.

The first of the two wore a pink tank top with a pair of purple shells on her chest. She also had on a pink pair of leggings with a long, pink serpentine tail ending in a pretty fin. Her hair too was pink and very long, extending from her head down to her lower back.

The Vaporeon on the other hand wore a blue t-shirt, blue cargo shorts and sported a fish tail. His hair was dark blue, and three fins decorated his head. Aside from that, a small white collar-like fin surrounded his neck and finished the Water-type's look.

Both of them had the Resistance emblem on their tops, and next to it was a symbol of a trench in the deepest reaches of the ocean.

Oscar swam with his spear slung securely to his back while Angel kept on a rebreather so as not to drown. A few Samurott and Buizel from Benjamin's crew accompanied them, as well as a variety of other Water-type Pokémon bearing Resistance emblems.

"This is General Ethan. Do you read me?" The Golisopod's voice sounded in the earpieces of the Pokémon underwater.

"Loud and clear, General." A Panpour gijinka replied.

"How does it look down there? We're tracking your progress with the help of the Foresight scouts and Taryn's computer."

* * *

On the wooden posts every two sails on each mast of the fleet's ships were Furret and Watchog scouts, alongside other Pokémon scanning the water with glowing white eyes. Among them stood a certain owl archer, narrowing his eyes and peering into the fog.

On the main deck of Le Paroi De Fer were the Resistance General, the fire mage Samantha, the hacker Taryn, the captain Benjamin, his girl Sarah, the rest of the crew and the Resistance Pokémon, all ready for hell.

Samantha's psychokinetic abilities, though limited, did aid in the scouts' abilities to see past dense fog, trees, and even extend their visions. Other Psychic-type Pokémon followed the example, while the rest stood as spare lookouts and guards.

Taryn was busying herself moving the cursor over to match where the Resistance underwater were on radar. The sockets and plugs were taken out of her hair and now, the ship had electricity for as long as the other Electric-types kept the extension cords supplied.

* * *

"Everything's clear, but this quiet is killing me." Oscar replied.

"Yeah… Keep your eyes peeled." A Squirtle commented.

The team all swam further, silently in the surprisingly clear water. The scouts back on board the ships gave a negative response to the question of enemy presence. Taryn guided the teams down below by keeping track of their location and telling them which route to take once the waterway split into a few rivers.

"So we're finally going to tackle the boogeyman at their base."

"One of their three bases, anyway."

"Three major bases, mind you."

"Hey, when we get out of there alive, who's buying us all the drinks?"

Laughter and chuckles echoed in the earpieces and on the speakers back on board.

"You're approaching the target." Taryn stated seriously after stifling a small chuckle. "About eight meters down and twenty-six degrees to your left, you'll see the hatch. Remember, if you screw up the first part, everyone here will die. And if you screw up the second part, Vivi…"

"Geez, don't make it so pressuring." Oscar replied.

"Just reminding you." The Jolteon replied with what Oscar could tell was a smirk.

"I know." The Gorebyss, Vivi stated.

Oscar, alongside Vivi and a Vaporeon, dove deeper towards the hatch. The three held still in the water as a Slowking gijinka quickly stood on the seafloor and used his psychic-type capabilities to shield the trio from the scanner's view.

At that moment, a pair of Finneon, followed by a Luvdisc in their ordinary clothes passed by the scanner, looking as normal as possible.

The small orb on the concrete closed, allowing the Slowking to let go of his hold as well as the Finneon and Luvdisc to head back to the others.

"Good work, you three."

"Couldn't have done it without ya, sis."

The Vaporeon vanished into the water, while the Gorebyss floated forward ever so slightly where the other Water-type disappeared.

"Try not to fuck this up…" Samantha said over comms. Taryn audibly gulped as the Gorebyss sucked in the water that made up the Vaporeon earlier by morphing her mouth into a much thinner, pointy mouth.

"Vivi, stay calm." A new voice stated.

"Thank you, Darrion…" The Gorebyss quietly replied.

Oscar and the other Water-types underwater all watched the scene with a tinge of fear in them, but remained alert and watchful.

The South Sea Pokémon gijinka slowly and carefully positioned the tip of her mouth on the small crack at the hatch. She blew out slowly and gently, closing her eyes as her body began to glow pink.

"Oh, crap…"

"Done." The Gorebyss quietly stated as her mouth reverted to normal and she looked into the hatch with worry.

"You sure you didn't leave anything behind?" Oscar queried.

"Double checked." The pink gijinka replied.

The team all waited with suspense heavy in the air at the ships and in the water they all floated in. After a few moments, the hatch opened, revealing the Vaporeon gijinka, unharmed and giving the underwater team a thumbs up.

Relieved sighs came from the earpieces worn by everyone as soft clapping was heard from the crew on board.

The underwater team all nodded and began to move into the hatch. Oscar took the lead along with the Vaporeon, a Lanturn, and a Frogadier.

"Clear. Moving up." The Frogadier stated. Angel, the Gorebyss, a Squirtle, Panpour, three Basculin, sixteen Buizel, four Samurott, the Finneon siblings, the Luvdisc, and the Slowking all followed into the hatch.

"We've lost your position on radar." Taryn said. "Be careful down there- we have no idea what exactly is in there."

"Roger that, hacker." One of the Basculin stated.

"This place is a little narrow for an emergency exit." Oscar mused as he swam forward with his spear pointed front. The Resistance and Benjamin's crewmen were all following in a long line, traveling in threes, fours, or fives to allow enough room for everyone to move forward.

"You'll be passing by two doors. If I'm right, then Oscar's in front?" Taryn questioned.

"Yep. What do you want?"

"We need you to hit the second door with a Liquidation."

"Why not the first door?" The Floatzel quizzed.

"…You don't want to know." The Electric-type replied.

"Geez, you're pretty boring today, Taryn. Anything up?"

"Very funny, Oscar."

The Sea Weasel gijinka came up to a door and swam past it, followed closely by the Vaporeon and Angel, then the rest of the Pokémon. After seeing the second door, the Floatzel raised a fist and glanced back at his allies.

At the motion, everyone stopped moving and floated in the water.

"Just to make sure… The hatchet's closed?" Oscar asked.

"I can confirm that." The Slowking replied.

"Alright, sweet." The Floatzel motioned for Angel and the Vaporeon to back off. The duo nodded and floated back a little, giving Oscar room to ram into the door with Liquidation.

The door burst open, and much to the Water-type lancer's surprise, he fell into a dry catwalk.

He quickly recovered and got back up, looking around the room full of pipes and a passage headed further inside.

"I'm in… And this freaking place is still dry. Water isn't flowing in here." The Floatzel said as he watched his allies cautiously move into the room.

True to his word, the water on the narrow passage wasn't flowing into the opened door. The others who went in reported what they felt going through back to the Le Paroi De Fer and the surrounding ships.

"A barrier that keeps out water and air…"

"Keep moving. If you see any Periculum guards down there, take them out before they raise any alarms." Taryn ordered.

"And try to do it quietly." Samantha added.

"Will do." The Panpour gijinka replied.

"Let's move."

* * *

After splitting up into four teams, the Resistance slowly made their way through the tunnels, all while being careful not to be detected despite the empty halls.

So far, the teams were going well. They inspected any rooms they passed by and continued forward, mapping the place out for Taryn to compile.

"Okay… I think I've pinpointed the entrance. Sending it to some of your phones." Taryn stated. "But make sure those things are on silent mode before I do that…"

"Heh, got it."

"Ready."

"On your go."

"Alright, sending."

"We have it. Thanks, Taryn."

"Good work so far, keep it up." Ethan said.

"Teams, we're re-grouping at the entrance. Whoever gets there first, make sure that wide room is cleared before the rest arrive." The Vaporeon stated on communications.

"Copy that, A. We're moving up, people." A Resistance Samurott's voice stated across the communications.

"Angel, take a left, then take the right that comes after that." Oscar said.

On Angel's end, she was followed by one Basculin, four Buizel, Vivi, and the Squirtle. The Absol followed the route given to her, checking for anything suspicious in the area.

"We're almost there." The Squirtle stated.

"Gee, that was a scary move there, Vivi." The Basculin remarked.

"I-I know… Even I'm still a little shaky after just having swallowed him." The Gorebyss replied.

"Hm… I have to admit…" Angel mused as she walked forward with her broadsword in hand. "Even I'm impressed that you managed to do that without killing him in the process."

"I- Thank you, um… Angel, was it?" Vivi queried.

"…Yes."

"Wow, you managed to get the star mercenary to talk." A Resistance Buizel remarked.

"That in itself is an amazing feat." The Squirtle added. Vivi blushed lightly and giggled as she and the others followed the Dark-type walking ahead.

* * *

"We're here… It seems fairly clear." The Frogadier stated as he scanned the room around them.

"Now we play the waiting game, aye?" A Buizel from Benjamin's ship stated.

"Aye."

"Hm… Let's work on getting this door open. The Lanturn mused as he walked closer to the door at the other end of the room.

The Light Pokémon gijinka walked over to it and blinked a couple of times as he gripped the handle on the door. Slowly, he turned to his teammates.

"What's wrong?" The Frogadier asked.

"This door will electrocute you."

"Say what now?"

The Vaporeon walked over, followed by four more Buizel, a Basculin, the Finneon duo, and a Slowking.

"Austyn. This door is just running with electricity." The Lanturn stated. "If not for my Volt Absorb, I'd probably be fried."

"Hm… Then only you can get it open?" Austyn, the Vaporeon, queried.

"That won't be necessary."

The group turned to see Angel's and Oscar's groups coming closer.

"I'll handle it." The Absol stated as she walked closer.

"But you'll-"

Oscar was cut off by the Absol freezing the door's handle with an Ice Beam. She closed her eyes before rushing the frozen lock with a Night Slash in her blade.

The handle broke off, leaving plenty of confused Water-type Pokémon bearing Resistance emblems standing in a wide, rounded room. Following that, Angel kicked the door down, revealing a much cleaner room inside.

Without wasting a second, the Absol strode forward into the room and looked around her.

"We're clear. This is it."

"Is she always like that?" Austyn asked.

"Yes, sir." Oscar replied with a dull nod. "Yes, she is."

"You're in the main facility?" Taryn quizzed.

"According to Angel, ma'am." The Panpour replied into the earpiece.

"Alright, gimme a second… You wouldn't mind describing where you are, right?" The Electric-type said through chatter on her end.

"Uh, let's see…"

The room had dull gray walls, ceilings, and floors. However, it was fairly clean. A laptop was on one of the few tables that decorated the room. A single light bulb illuminated the entire room, save for the nooks and crannies covered by the furniture. Another door led to three large elevators that were destined to go up.

Austyn passed over the details to the crew back at the waterway. Taryn added the information to the data she held and with the help of two others, she managed to find out the exact location of the underwater team.

"Go up the elevator. A couple of guards will be standing in the hall as soon as you exit, so deal with them quickly."

"Will do." The Vaporeon gijinka replied. "Let's move, everyone."

"The halls there are thin. Split up and try to cover at least a fourth of the floor before you open the gates." Taryn stated.

"You heard her, everyone. It would be best if you do it without leaving a trace." Ethan's voice added.

"Roger that, General." Austyn said. "Vivi, take Oscar, the Buizel, the Basculin triad, and the Finneon siblings. The rest of you, on me."

"We'll be logging off communications until you get that gate open. Try not to die in there, alright?" The earpieces' lights then went out, leaving the radios silent.

"Aren't the groups still large?" The Lanturn queried.

"We won't have to worry about that." The Water-type Eeveelution replied. "I doubt Periculum is clueless right now."

"What do you mean?"

"They know we're here."

* * *

"Hold." Angel whispered as she stepped out of the room her group hid in. The Absol peered out into the corridors, instantly sliding behind a wall when she heard footsteps from from the end of the hallway.

A couple of Periculum Pokémon, a Seadra and a Nosepass, passed by the still Absol and the closed room. The duo were equipped with a crossbow and an axe. Both seemed to be alert, as if searching for something.

" _That Vaporeon leader was right…_ " Angel thought to herself as she walked to the end of the hall where the guards came from. She then returned to the room after making sure nobody was there. "We're clear."

The group followed the Absol silently through white halls. For the most part, not many Pokémon wandered around the first floor of the main building. It was either a janitor, or the occasional guard.

"Say, Angel…" The Floatzel lancer trailed off.

"What?"

"How do you know where we're going?"

A brief pause followed.

"I don't know where we're going." The Absol coldly replied.

"B-But wait, aren't we supposed to head for the gates with Austyn's group?" Vivi asked.

"…I know. We'll just have to keep moving." The mercenary replied.

* * *

"Sir, I've found an open computer." The Frogadier gijinka stated.

"We'll handle those later once the others are in. For now, we keep moving." Austyn the Vaporeon replied. "The gate should be just up ahead. If we can-"

"Hold it right there!" A Gastrodon gijinka exclaimed from across the hall. Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt!" The Water- and Ground-type added.

"Heh, he's no problem." The Squirtle remarked before shooting a Water Pulse at the Periculum guard. However, the move was sucked right into the target's body, causing the Gastrodon to smirk.

"Storm Drain…" Austyn mused.

"Now you're going to pay!" The Gastrodon pulled out a large green gem from a pocket in his armor.

"Oh, crap."

Right as the gem began to glow, a sword's blade found itself in the chest of the Gastrodon. The gem fell to the floor with a resounding thud, while the guard let out a faint groan before the blade was pulled away and he fell to the ground in a lifeless heap.

The white gijinka with the bronze blade picked up the gem and tossed it over to Austyn.

"You'll need that for the other Storm Drain and Water Absorbers down here." Angel casually remarked as she continued down the hallway.

"That was perfect timing." The Panpour commented.

"I know… Where's the rest of her group?"

"Right here." Oscar stated as he, Vivi, and the other Water-types appeared from the corridor. "Come on, the gate's that way!" The Floatzel yelled.

Austyn and his team quickly regrouped with them, then Angel in a very large room with one huge door right next to a small keypad on the wall.

The room held three other bigger doors, labeled as "Hangar 1," "Hangar 2," and "PF EXIT."

"Get on that control panel." Austyn ordered. Immediately, the Panpour headed to it and attempted to hack the keypad.

"So the hangars are obvious enough…" Vivi mused. "But what's the other door?"

"Hm… Stay here. I'll scout in." Austyn said before he completely vanished from sight, leaving a puddle of water flowing quickly for the "exit" door.

"Ugh, this hack sucks…" The Panpour mumbled.

"Lemme have a spin!" A Basculin said. The Panpour moved away and allowed the Water Pokémon to attempt the hack.

" _PF…_ " Angel thought. " _There's no way that they'd be that obvious… Right?_ "

"Dammit. Anyone else wanna try this?"

"I do." The Lanturn said.

"Ugh, this is going to take some time…" Oscar mumbled as he looked to the halls which they came from.

* * *

The leader of the Water-type Elite team rematerialized in a large room with a rather tough looking metal box being held over water. To the right was a door leading to what appeared to be a control room near the ceiling. To the left was another door that most likely lead out of there.

Austyn looked around- thankfully enough, nobody was in sight. The Vaporeon stayed alert and examined the place, walking around.

"Hm… If this is an exit, what is it for?" Austyn asked no one in particular. The Bubble Jet Pokémon hopped into the water and melted into it to get a closer look at the box.

Below, it seemed like there was a hatch that would open up if the metal bars surrounding it were to let go. It gave an unsettling feeling, making the Water-type's senses ring, telling him to leave.

" _Something isn't right._ "

Footsteps were heard coming from the left hand door. The invisible Vaporeon looked to the source to find a Piloswine, a Munna, a Frillish, a Rhydon, and an Ariados all walking in. The five of them were each dressed in open lab coats over their ordinary wear.

"You are sure we're being infiltrated?" The Piloswine questioned.

"Without a doubt. It looks like those Resistance scumbags payed off the pirates." The Ariados replied.

"Then we must finish the refining of Lancer…" The Munna mused. The Periculum scientists walked into the door leading to the control room, where they now began working on the machines, sending a few electric currents to the metal box floating above the Vaporeon.

" _I've got to get out of here._ " Austyn thought. " _But that Frillish will not make this easy…_ "

* * *

Back at the gate, the group finally managed to get the entrance open. The result was the whole fleet- fourteen ships, including Le Paroi De Fer and the other two of Benjamin's ships- moored right outside the base.

Resistance Pokémon were all headed into the first room, regrouping and sharing intel with the underwater team along with Angel and Oscar.

"You did it!"

"Heh, it was no biggie!" The Floatzel replied. "So Taryn, why didn't you want me to go into the first door underwater again?"

"Do you WANT to be covered in gunk?"

"Never mind."

"Where's Austyn?" Ethan queried as he walked over to the group.

"He said he'd check out that exit door over there." Oscar replied.

"Hm… It would be unwise to leave him here." The Golisopod mused.

"Then we'll simply have to call him back."

Before anyone could make a move, Vivi's cellphone rang. The Gorebyss slipped the device out of her pocket and put it on speaker.

"Um, hello?"

"Vivi. It's Austyn. Periculum scientists testing on something in this exit room." The Vaporeon's voice quietly said. "I'm underwater, avoiding detection from Periculum scientists in a control room here. They're testing on something I really don't like. There's an alternate entrance to this room, but I've got no clue as to where it is."

"Well, isn't that great… Austyn, try to hold off engaging them for now." Ethan stated. "We'll get to you as fast as we can."

"Well then, let's hurry this up." Benjamin said as he and Sarah joined the large group of Resistance Pokémon pooling in the room.

"Alright then. We'll split up, try to cover as much ground as possible." Ethan stated. "Don't be afraid to run if you have to- retreat to the ships and defend here if they corner you. Do I make myself clear!?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Alright. Whoever will lead is completely up to you, but each group should have at least five members. Good luck." Ethan stated as he walked towards the corridor.

"Wait, General, where are you going?" A Gligar gijinka asked.

"To send some of these bastards to hell."

* * *

After a little organizing, the Pokémon all went their separate ways to uncover the rest of the floor.

Angel was now traveling with her team of five, plus Benjamin and Sarah. The seven gijinkas met little resistance and even managed to intimidate a guard enough to make him unlock a few doors in the facility.

"This place is a lot less scary than I thought it would be." Samantha mused.

"I know, right?" Oscar said.

"Yeah… Doesn't look a thing like what I'd expect from such a company." Taryn added.

"Still, we'd best be alert… Something feels off." Nathan stated.

"Like how not too many people are trying to stop us?" Sarah asked.

"They should know we're here now." Samantha said. "It's weird that they'd leave one of their main bases unguarded after a recent attack.

"Yes, something certainly is amiss here." Benjamin added.

"Hm… This way." Angel turned a corner and headed up a flight of stairs. The group followed her up, but with confused looks.

"How do you know where we're going again?" Oscar quizzed.

"I don't." The mercenary replied. "All I know is they're probably stockpiled on the higher floors to guard whatever it is that's so important."

"Hm, sound logic."

"Then we need to move higher." Benjamin stated.

"Halt!" a Stufful gijinka yelled as he approached the group unarmed right as they climbed the stairs.

"Aww, look at this little guy!" Samantha cooed, much to the Periculum guard's annoyance.

"How dare you taunt me! Die!" The smaller Pokémon yelled as it flailed its arms at the group in a charge.

Sarah and Samantha both burned the Fluffy Pokémon with a double Flamethrower, causing the Stufful to fall to the ground in a heap with a few embers still lingering on him.

"That would have destroyed us if it hit…" Nathan mumbled.

"But he's so small!" Samantha said.

"Yeah, but those guys are known for having as much physical strength as a couple of Machokes." Oscar added. The Braixen gulped and looked at the knocked out Fighting-type on the floor.

"Never underestimate your opponents." Sarah commented.

"Let's keep moving." Angel stated.

* * *

The group fought through a few more Periculum guards on the second floor. At a few points, they met up with a few other teams, including Ethan standing by a bunch of mortified Periculum soldiers huddled up into a corner.

The alarms were raised only then, giving the Resistance the signal to increase their paces. The team traveled through room after room, corridor after corridor, and made their way up multiple staircases and elevators.

As they got further into the base, the enemies became more aggressive and numerous. They were now fighting for real rather than just tossing an attack at a few weak guards.

"Everyone good?" Nathan asked as the remains of a few soldiers lay on the ground by a destroyed portion of floor by an explosive.

"I am."

"All is well."

"Good to go!"

"Hmph.. Don't lag behind." Angel stated as she entered another room.

"She seems a little excited to be here." Taryn remarked.

"Yeah, it's like she knows what to expect."

True to the Water-type's word, the Absol seemed to know what kind of opposition each room had. Her guesses were almost never wrong, as the specific type of Pokémon in each sector was exactly the way the Absol guessed. Aside from that, Angel even knew the best way to counter the enemies she could guess correctly.

"Even Psychic-types are incapable of doing that in a place like this." Samantha said.

"What choice do we have but to stick with her?" Benjamin stated. "It is an interesting topic, but it works to our advantage." The Shiny Glaceon added.

"Benjamin has a point." Sarah followed. "We can save why she's like that for later. For now, we need to focus on the mission."

"Yeah, we got ya."

The team followed the mercenary into the room she vanished into. There, Angel stood as cold as ever, examining a locked sliding door.

" _Doesn't have any traditional locks…_ "

"I think I got it." Taryn walked over to a keypad next to the door. However, Benjamin jumped up to an opening near the ceiling where he climbed into a vent.

"Benjamin?" Oscar said.

"Hey, hang on, what's he…"

The Jolteon was cut off by the Ice-type eeveelution opening the door from behind.

"You're welcome." The Shiny Glaceon captain stated.

"Quite attentive." Nathan remarked. The Glaceon only nodded in reply.

"We'll split up here. We'll try to meet up two floors up." Sarah said.

"Alright. Good luck!" Taryn smiled.

"Let's go." Benjamin ordered, and he and the Fennekin took a right past the door.

"Let's keep up the pace, guys." Samantha began walking down the hallway, followed by the others.

Angel lagged behind for a moment before shaking her head and catching up to her team.

" _They haven't changed much._ "

Angel began walking away, to the mild confusion of her allies.

"You're going alone?" Nathan queried. The Dark-type didn't repliy and kept walking until she disappeared past a corridor.

"Hm, she's an odd one."

* * *

"Stored Power!"

Taryn's attack landed a direct hit on a Venonat, knocking the Poison- and Bug-type back to the wall.

"Duck!" Oscar shouted. The whole team crouched low to avoid a powerful high velocity projectile passing right over them.

"Dammit!" The Mothim swore under his breath as he hid behind an overturned table to reload the Railgun.

"Oh no you don't!" Oscar shouted as he leapt up and fired a Water Pulse at the table, leaving the Flying-type in a confused state.

Taryn fired a Thunderbolt at the confused guard, knocking him out cold. The Railgun on the floor however, was out of ammo and it didn't seem like any more were in the immediate area.

"That would have been a good weapon to use." Nathan remarked as he picked up the heavy weapon.

"With your accuracy? Yes, it would." Samantha stated.

"If it wasn't so heavy, I'd bring this out with us."

"Hey, maybe we can find their armory or something."

"If anything, I think a layout of the whole base would be more useful." The Jolteon stated.

"Agreed, looking for key points in the base is wise." The Decidueye added.

"Then that's what we're doing."

The team of four continued down hallways, fighting off any guards that showed up and peeking into rooms containing Pokémon that were, oddly, asleep.

"Won't those guys be trying to fight us?"

"It doesn't seem like they can."

"Those doors were made of some stern stuff." Samantha remarked.

"Guys, over here!" The yellow gijinka called.

"You found something?" The Water-type asked.

"Yeah. A couple of open PCs."

"PC, so Personal and not business?"

"Yep. Wallpaper and account name says it all…" The Electric-type trailed off. The other three followed her into a medium-sized room and looked towards the seat of the Jolteon, then to the computers before her.

A Lopunny and Gardevoir gijinkas were posing for a camera, both wearing a brown and white bikini, respectively. The Jolteon didn't seem to mind it, however, it did gain the attention of the Floatzel and Braixen much more than the Decidueye.

"So why do we need to see this again?" Nathan asked.

"Ugh… At least we confirmed that these things aren't for business." Samantha remarked.

"Not exactly." Taryn said. "Check this out." The Jolteon clicked on a file on the desktop, opening a long stream of data.

"Whoa, what is this?" Oscar said quizzically.

"Something just about as scary as the three projects we know of. It was created twelve years ago, but what's in it is…" The Electric-type Eeveelution trailed off. "I'll read it out to you guys."

"Let me make sure we're clear." Nathan interrupted as he walked back to the door and used Foresight to scan the immediate area for any Pokémon nearby. "We're clear. There's just four Poochyena sleeping in a room five doors away."

"Okay. According to data from head labs, Subject F is performing quite well and is already beginning to adjust. She still resists, but is slowly becoming more and more accepting of herself- rather, the shadow process is going well. Subject F however, has been known to go into what we now term as "Reverse Mode" more often."

"Reverse mode?"

"Reverse mode is a status for Project S Pokémon, first discovered on Subject F. This is when a Pokémon begins acting oddly, (from both their original behavior and their behavior as Shadow Pokémon) fighting differently, and they even start to voice their emotions more powerfully. For example, when a Shadow Pokémon is ordered to use a regular move, they will disobey regardless of what control methods they are under. Aside from that, reverse mode causes the Pokémon to receive damage from an unknown source that actually does noticeable damage to the subjects. Subject F remarked that she could feel pain in Reverse Mode, but claimed she had no idea where it was coming from."

"That sounds… Bad." The Braixen commented.

"At least we have a slightly better idea as to who we're looking for since it's a girl." Nathan said.

"Yeah, for all we know, the escapee could be this Subject F girl we're hearing about." The lancer added. Taryn cleared her throat, gaining the others' attention again.

"Most noticeably, their eyes will give off a mild purple light while their bodies will exude an almost transparent red and black aura. Aura has not been documented in history to be visible to the eyes of the normal, which makes Reverse mode- this flaw- the latest study of Periculum."

"So… Shadow Pokémon have a flaw to them."

"There's more." The Lightning Pokémon gijinka stated. "This next part was updated just four months ago. Even today, Reverse Mode is still in the unknown- what causes it and how to deal with it are still being researched. Subject F, on the other hand, being perfected, no longer experiences Reverse Mode and serves in excavations very well."

"OK, scratch that. Little miss F isn't the escapee."

"Yeah, she's still with Periculum."

"That's kinda scary…"

"Taryn, you are downloading this, right?"

"Yep. Started the download of every useful thing they have as soon as I started reading." She replied.

"Alright, good… Now we have a little more to go about with this."

"Wanna finish this last part up?" Taryn asked. "This is where it really gets scary. It's about the other one with that F girl."

"Well, let's hear it."

"For all we know, our target could be here."

"Well, the info might lead us to them." Taryn said. "Ahem… With the escape of Subject A, our efforts to cover up any traces of Project S and to find her are the main things making us all active. Subject A should theoretically be quite volatile right now, and perhaps already killed a few street Pokémon around the area. With the data we've collected from Subject F, the other lower-tier Shadow Pokémon, and Reverse mode, we've predicted that Subject A would enter Reverse mode much more often than not, which would make her easy to spot in a crowd."

"Hm, makes sense."

"Carrying on, it turns out that Subject A blends in with crowds very well. Not a single report of any Pokémon going on emotional outbursts and throwing up shadowy spikes from the ground to decimate those who stand in her path."

"Yeesh, I'm glad there aren't any."

"The absolute last part of this topic was updated three years ago." Taryn said. "With the years that have gone by, Subject F's perfection, Project S' success, and plans to start a project that will create type-changing Pokémon from DNA samples, we've all but given up hope of locating Subject A. She's still in the nation, but by now, she must have adapted very well to keep off our radars and sights. It also doesn't help that the mountain dwellers up in the northeast and down towards the southeast have returned to mainland Driasia, making Subject A just that much more difficult to find in a crowd of suspects."

"Mountain dwellers?"

"So her species must be something that lives in the mountain."

"Lots of Flying-, Ice-, Rock-, Ground-, and Steel-type could be suspects…" Oscar said.

"They didn't elaborate on her species at all?" Samantha asked. The Jolteon sighed.

"In the event of any disaster, the details concerning Subject A are not to be spoken of anywhere, except by word of mouth with the President's or Subject F's approvals."

"Wait, they report to F now?"

"Hang on… Didn't their president have a right-hand Pokémon who does really, really well in missions?"

"You're not saying…"

"We need to find the General. Only he and the other leaders can confirm our suspicions."

"Subject F… Periculum's second-in-command…"

* * *

A grunt escaped Angel's lips as she cut down a Nidorina. Her blade tossed the Poison-type's defeated form to a large group of fallen Periculum soldiers.

"Is that it…?" the Absol mused as she strode forward, a certain elegance surrounded her steps. She then clutched her head and looked towards a large group of soldiers headed her way.

"Hmph… I figured I'd need release sooner or later…"

"Stop right there!"

"Fools." Angel stated as she charged a large Shadow Ball and threw it at her enemies. Using the opening, she blasted down the cameras and rushed the soldiers with a blade coated in jet black energy.

"Oh, shit!"

"You'll wish you never signed up for this." Angel stated as fear etched itself into the eyes of the soldiers, reflecting a mass of destructive power about to stab them from below.

* * *

"Shite."

Benjamin and Sarah both took cover behind sandbags as a couple of Periculum guards approached them with a light machine gun and a shotgun.

Gunfire rained down on them from across the hallway. The sound of bullets passing by and striking the wall sounded loudly in the ears of the Shiny Glaceon and the Fennekin hiding behind the sandbags.

"Bloody 'ell, the suppression from those automatic weapons are greater than a single musket shot!" The Fresh Snow exclaimed.

"I know. We need to find an opening!" The Fire-type replied.

"Hold on, I have an idea."

The Shiny Glaceon tossed an older Flashbang model through the corridor. Shortly after, the shooting stopped, leaving a pair of blinded and deafened guards standing with an L86 LSW and a USAS-12.

"Now!" Benjamin ordered.

He and Sarah popped out of cover and shot the guards down with their pistols, knocking them out. The duo moved up immediately and hid behind the next set of sandbags next to the downed guards.

Plenty of footsteps ring throughout the halls, signaling the approach of many soldiers. The footsteps stop, causing Benjamin to peek from behind cover.

At the end of the T-intersection were a large group of soldiers armed with M4 Carbines, AK-47s, M16s, MP7s, and in one case, a SPAS-12.

"Their weapons are too advanced for our pistols!" Sarah shouted as Benjamin ducked his head to avoid a few 7.62 and 5.56 rounds from hitting his skull.

The Glaceon looked around, finding nothing that could help them. Except…

"Wait, those two guns over there!" The Ice-type stated.

"On it." Sarah stated as her psychokinesis, albeit very weak due to her species, pulled the LSW and USAS closer to the duo.

Benjamin peeked out one more time, this time exposing more of himself. He had to get down instantly or else he would have been shot by the barrage of large bullets and the 12-gauge buckshot shells.

"Here!" Sarah yelled as she tossed the LMG over to Benjamin while she took the USAS-12.

Benjamin took the weapon and peeked out with it. The soldiers on the other side were all reloading, but the shotgunner managed to get a shell in the midst of reloading, forcing the Glaceon back down.

Benjamin instantly took the opportunity to apply force to the trigger as he aimed it down. However, he ducked back behind cover when he found the weapon's recoil was too much to handle.

The soldiers were all reloaded and ready to fire again, seemingly unfazed by the few bullets sent by the LSW.

"Watch out, Sarah. Your gun might have severe recoil like mine. Magic cast."

The Fennekin nodded and cast a spell onto her weapon. The Fresh Snow gijinka did the same, causing a faint orange aura to surround the weapon before it dissipated.

"I hope this thing ain't a piece of turd." The duo said as they prepared to fire. At lightning speed due to a speed spell, Benjamin deployed the bipod on the sandbags and applied pressure to the trigger.

The machine gun let loose a storm of bullets down on the opponents, while the shotgun in Sarah's hands sent out 12-gauge buckshot pellets flying at the soldiers.

In the next instant, every single soul standing at the end of the hallway got mowed down by MG fire and shotgun fire. Their bodies were bruised and badly torn from the gunfire. A small amount of blood made itself present around the bodies of the defeated soldiers.

The duo both slowly stood up, looking at the enemies, then to each other, then to the weapons, and repeated this five times. Afterwards, they exchanged glances again and opened their mouths to speak.

"I think we found a new toy." They both said in unison with big smiles. More footsteps were approaching, but as soon as the Periculum soldiers appeared, 12-gauge pellets found themselves striking down the soldiers knocking them out from the force of many pellets from four shells.

"Ho… Ly… Shit…" Sarah mused as she took in the weapon in her hands with a look of pure amusement.

"I like this." Benjamin stated with a big grin as he ran to the intersection and took cover behind the wall.

Bullets flew past the captain and when it stopped, he returned fire with the enchanted recoilless LSW.

Within nanoseconds, the eight soldiers standing at the end of the hallway were reduced to a bunch of injured gijinkas. Benjamin and Sarah both headed over to them, only to find something interesting at the end.

A room filled to the brim with expensive weaponry, including riot shields and other ammo types.

"Is that…" Benjamin trailed off.

"…The motherload?" Sarah questioned The two exchanged glances and sped for the armory.

Inside the armory were AA-12 shotguns, Striker shotguns, AK-47s with GP-25 Grenade launchers, 12-gauge frag shots, Barrett .50 CAL rifles, UMP45 SMGs, M60E4s, more USAS-12s and L86 LSWs, ACRs, M14 EBRs, Python revolvers, M1911s, USP.45s, Riot Shields, RPGs, bazookas, War Machines, and even a railgun hanging from the ceiling.

"We're going to need to mark this place."

* * *

"Okay, last place we probably haven't marked yet is up ahead!" Taryn exclaimed, leading the way for her group. Samantha let loose a quick Shock Wave, zapping the Bunnelby in front of Taryn as well as charging up the Jolteon's next Thunderbolt.

"Your cue, Taryn!" Oscar shouted as he used a Double Hit with his spear to send a Koffing back before he could release poisonous fumes.

"We've got you covered!" Nathan added as his arrows took down a Pinsir before it could run in with an X-Scissor.

"Thanks. Now, time for a sweet shock!"

The Electric-type hacker's Thunderbolt tore away at all the opponents before them, leaving a clear path for the Resistance team to follow.

"Let's move!"

As the group approached a door, they went cautious at the sound of steel mashing against steel. The group stepped into the room, ready to fire their moves.

What they found was a certain gijinka clad in white trading blows with a Honedge. She was overpowering the Ghost- and Steel-type with just regular strikes, not even needing her super-effective Night Slash.

The sound of swords clashing stopped as Angel managed to cut down the opposing Honedge down with a Night Slash.

"Where have you been?"

"Hmph..." Angel took a deep breath and blinked before replying. "Dealing with some soldiers."

Another wave of enemies interrupted the team as they prepared to shoot them down. However, they only smirked as they took aim.

"Alright, now to move on the rest of these guys!"

As the Periculum soldiers prepared to shoot down the main cast, a door to the right side of the room opened up. In an instant, several well placed 7.62x51mm rounds took down every single enemy the crew were about to face.

The group stayed alert, but relaxed slightly when they saw Benjamin and Sarah come out, both wielding M14 EBRs with M1911s strapped to them aside from their flintlock and wheel lock pistols.

"Whoa, where'd you find those?" Nathan asked.

"From the armory two rooms behind us." Benjamin stated.

"Did you know they even have a fully loaded railgun in there?" Sarah said.

"Those weapons will be a fine addition to the Resistance." Ethan stated as he casually walked in with his two gigantic swords about twice the length and width of the Buster Sword (because though I do use real life statistics, this is still a fantasy/fiction at some point). The Golisopod general sheathed the weapons to his back and smiled. "So two rooms to the right?"

"Of course."

"I'll have the others pick them up. We've already scrounged through the first half of the building. Intel is being uploaded to the internet and to HQ. Other supplies are already being looted." The general explained as he walked towards the armory."

"Kinda makes you wonder why we still use spears and swords." Oscar mused.

" _Holy fucking shitballs!_ " Ethan's voice rang from the corridor. " _I'm in heaven!_ " The older gijinka shouted.

"The five of you should go ahead and look into the room as well." Benjamin suggested.

"And if you want, take your pick." Sarah added.

"No thank you, I'm happy with my claws and my moves." Taryn answered.

"I'm not much of a gunner myself…" Samantha added.

"Well… I'm not missing out on opportunity... Especially to get myself a railgun!" The Decidueye stated as he rushed over to the armory, followed by a curious Oscar.

"Hm… I'm fine with my blade." Angel remarked.

" _What the hell is with all this beauty!?_ " The owl archer's voice rang through the corridor.

" _SHOTGUN!_ " Oscar yelled.

"They sure sound happy." Samantha remarked.

"Now I know what I sound like when I find the computer room…" Taryn mumbled. She, along with Samantha giggled and peeked past a corner to see the armory.

In the room full of weapons, Oscar was holding a SPAS-12 and grabbing yellow boxes of 12-gauge frag shells, Nathan took the railgun and scoured for ammo, while Ethan simply stood still, obviously unable to move from the beauty before his eyes.

"This is essentially the equivalent of pirates finding a mountain made of gold." Benjamin remarked.

"Hmph. When they're done toying around, we move forward." Angel stated as she walked over to a table to polish her broadsword.

* * *

A bunch of explosions sounded in the hallway, forcing a group of Water-type Resistance Pokémon to stop in their tracks as the Periculum soldiers blew up, for lack of a better term.

"Shotguns that explode." Oscar said. "Shotguns. That. Explode." The Floatzel grinned from ear to ear as he dashed into the corner to take out the Pokémon. However, the Floatzel lowered his weapon when he found his allies there.

"Where did you get that!?" A Ducklett asked.

"Armory, one floor down, center room." Nathan said as he appeared with a railgun in hand.

"Ethan should be there with a few others. Feel free to grab what you want." Taryn added as she showed up alongside Benjamin, Sarah, Samantha, and Angel.

Footsteps were heard behind the Pokémon. Nathan instantly turned 180o and fired a shot from his weapon. The projectile tore the air around it and exploded on impact with the Periculum soldiers, painting the walls with some blood.

"Ah… That feels good." The owl archer remarked.

"No kidding. That looks OP as hell." Samantha commented.

* * *

" _Hang in there, Austyn!_ "

Vivi ran down the corridor alone as her allies fought off a large wave of Periculum soldiers behind her. The Gorebyss ran past a door that took her to a long staircase going down.

" _Bottom floor._ "

The South Sea Pokémon ran down the stairs. She ignored the many doors with numbers telling of which floor they led to or what room they led to, and headed straight for the bottom.

* * *

"YEAH!"

The Periculum soldiers screamed as fire torched them. Before them stood Ethan wielding one of his swords in his left hand and using a Striker shotgun loaded with incendiary rounds.

"It's been fun." The General stated as he holstered the shotgun onto one of his sword's sheaths and drew the next one. "But I still prefer to use these!"

The Golisopod dashed forward at high speed and struck down a Sealeo with First Impression. The Water- and Ice-type stood back up and threw up a Protect, giving his allies behind him the time to throw a white gem into the air that exploded in a Heal Bell, curing the other soldiers of the burns.

More soldiers arrived on the scene, pointing spears, bows, and guns at the general. The Hard Scale Pokémon simply chuckled in response.

"Do you know who you're dealing with, sirs?" Ethan queried. The Water- and Bug-type Resistance leader threw a quick Focus Blast at the opponents, blocking a Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, and a Sludge Bomb.

Ethan instantly stretched his arms to create a Wide Guard that protected him from the Heat Wave thrown by a Growlithe.

Before the soldiers could react, the Golisopod was upon them in a Sucker Punch. Right after smacking down the Sealeo, he swung his massive blades at the opponents, sending them down with cries of agony from the sharpness and weight of the swords.

"This never gets old!" Ethan laughed as he cut his way through more Periculum Pokémon, headed for a large, well defended room.

* * *

Austyn observed the strange box creaking and shaking as the scientists continued to operate the devices in the room.

The other door swung open, revealing a pink Water-type gijinka looking around the room frantically.

"Intruder!" The Munna up in the control room yelled.

"I'll take her on! Finish this up!" The Rhydon stated as he rushed down the stairs to face against Vivian.

"Austyn!" Vivian called. The Gorebyss threw up a Barrier to reduce the damage from the Rhydon's Stone Edge.

"Dammit!"

The Water-type fired off a Hydro Pump, sending the Rhydon back to the wall in a knocked out heap in just one hit.

"That was a strong Hydro Pump… I suppose I will have to deal with her." The Frillish giggled as she vanished and reappeared before Vivian.

"Stay out of my way…!" Vivian shouted as she created a burst of psychokinetic force and sent it flying towards the Frillish. The Water- and Ghost-type cast a Protect to keep the move from doing any damage.

"Now, little girl… Fall prey to my poison~" The Floating Pokémon hurled a purple cloud of poison at the Gorebyss.

Vivian dodged the move with a twirl and shot back a Signal Beam at the scientist.

The Frillish took the hit with modest damage, but shook off the pain and created an Ominous Wind to strike back.

The move hit home but didn't do much damage. However, Vivian noticed the Frillish glow red, green, purple, yellow, and blue all at once for just a moment.

"Hee-hee, it looks like that move raised my power~" The Frillish mused. She then shot a zigzagging beam of red at the Gorebyss, causing the Elite to scream in pain from the super-effective move.

Vivian fought back the pain and attempted another Psychic, but the move missed its mark as the Frillish's speed was too much for her.

When she turned, she found a knife stabbing her torso. The Gorebyss grunted in pain and stepped back, only to be slashed across the face with the blade.

"That's enough."

The Frillish turned in time to see an Aurora Beam hit her face. She shook the move off but lost her physical attacking power.

The Water- and Ghost-type turned to see the attacker, only to find a Vaporeon wearing the same emblems as Vivian.

"Oh, do you want to play too?" The Frillish queried before shooting another Ominous Wind.

Austyn melted into water to avoid the move and then cloned himself with Double Team as soon as he rematerialized from Acid Armor.

"Pick on someone your own size." The Elite Team Vaporeon stated as he rushed the Frillish with an Iron Tail. The move connected with the Frillish's knife, but the defendant struggled to keep up the pressure against a much more powerful strike.

Austyn turned to do a kick, sending the Frillish back a couple of meters and giving Vivian enough time to blow an Icy Wind at the opponent, reducing the speed stat.

"How dare you…" The Frillish groaned and aimed another Absorb at the Vaporeon and Gorebyss.

Austyn's double team vanished, allowing two more clones to rush with another Iron Tail. The Frillish hovered up further to narrowly avoid it, but was met with a Psychic, sending her to the ground.

"Ugh… I concede defeat." The Frillish mused as she vanished into thin air.

"This is bad!" The Piloswine stated. "Now I recognize those emblems! Those two are part of the Water-type Elite Team in the Resistance!"

"Well then, we'll simply have to release Lancer to the field early." The Munna said.

"No, finish it up! I'll be their next opponent." The Ariados said as he crawled down the stairs and fired Toxic Threads at the duo.

Vivian and Austyn evaded the move with ease and fired a criscrossing Signal Beam and Aurora Beam at the Ariados.

The Bug-type jumped to dodge and let loose more Toxic Threads, forcing the two Water-types to evade.

"Lancer is at 88%!" The Piloswine exclaimed as he burst open one of the windows to throw Icicle Spears at the two Water-types.

"Vivi, cover us!" Austyn ordered. The Gorebyss moved to his side and threw up a Barrier to keep away the projectiles, allowing the Vaporeon to create a massive wave of water to swamp the Ariados below and nick the Piloswine in the leg.

"You idiot, of the computer gets soaked-!" The Munna shouted as she threw up a Light Screen to cover the control room. "Lancer only needs a few more seconds!"

"This is bad." Vivian mused.

"We need to get out of here and warn the others…" Austyn said.

"Why, what is this 'Lancer' that they're talking about?"

"A refined Project F Pokémon."

The metal box crackled with electricity before bursting open, letting a tall Pokémon fall out into the water. The impact of the gijinka hitting the ground underwater caused the room to shake very slightly.

"It's done…" The Piloswine mumbled.

"Argh… Now we need to escape." The Ariados groaned and stood up before crawling up the wall to the control room.

"I'll teleport us… Now hurry."

"Wait for me!" The Rhydon yelled as he managed to get into the control room in time to be teleported away.

"Darn it…" Austyn said. "Vivi, go. I'll keep him busy!"

"But Austyn…"

The Bubble Jet Pokémon gijinka sighed.

"Fine, RUN!"

The duo instantly made their way to the left hand door of the room. They sealed it before continuing up the stairs while relaying details of the base to one another.

Back at the "exit" room, a large figure emerged from the water, carrying a gigantic spear almost twice the size of its own 6'1 height.

The figure's evil eyes were positioned a little oddly for a gijinka- leaning more to the sides of the head, but still nearby the normal place. Heavy armor plates covered its body, armor that looked thicker and tougher than even Ethan's armor. Three wing like appendages extended from either side of the gijinka's back, while a tough and powerful tail extended from the lower back. Accents of yellow and black decorated the grayish blue armor, and the Pokémon's arms had heavy, sharp plates meant for slicing and stabbing coupled with the spear.

The Pokémon paused for a moment and took a deep breath before breaking down the massive vault door with a swing from his spear.

"What the hell, who is that!?"

"He doesn't look very friendly."

"Maybe because I'm not, scum." The Armaldo roared and fired an Ancientpower at the Resistance Pokémon.

* * *

 _Again, very sorry that this is late! I'm studying for a couple of quizzes right now and organizing my things. Plus, there's been long assignments lately._

 _Oh, yeah, Austyn mentioned earlier that Periculum knew they were infiltrating. So far, it doesn't look like it, does it? You'll find out what exactly he means in a couple of chapters or so._

 _As you can probably guess, Project F took_ obvious _inspiration from a certain series. But I'll have you know that the President didn't commission this one._

 _I hope you'll find this chapter enjoyable. Since I want to get this up now, I'll end these notes here._

 _7-22-2017 Update:_

 _Yes, I am indeed aware that this update is short. And given my busy schedule, I don't have as much progress on Chapter thirteen as I would like._

 _But I'll give it my all to try to upload the next chapter before Saturday next week. Currently working on planning an interview and a report with a couple of groups, tho._

 _I can't think of much else. I'll update again when I do._


	13. C13 - The Raid II Mirsinus of Stone

Shadows in War, Segment 1, Chapter 13 – The Raid II; Mirsinus of Stone

* * *

 ** _DISCLAIMER: I've Absol-utely nothing to do with Game Freak or Nintendo. I simply own this story and every character except Benjamin, Sarah, and the things they they had before meeting Angel and friends._**

 _By the way, regarding silencers on guns, I will explain that down below since it's a given that it's got good and bad traits in the games we know of._

* * *

"Well, well, well… I think I just hit the second jackpot." Ethan stated.

He stood in a large room, filled to the brim with knocked out (and in one case dead) Periculum soldiers. Before him was a large computer system that from the looks of it, was the entire facility's main control room.

"I'll need to call some soldiers here… And there's only one bright way to do that." The old Golisopod chuckled as he sat on a chair and began fiddling with the controls.

"Damn newer technology." The Water- and Bug-type commented as he searched around for access to the facility's speakers. "Back then, things were so much more simple."

The Resistance general then found a program stating "Door Access." He clicked on it and began opening door after door.

"This should at least make it easier for them to move around."

* * *

"Uh, guys, I think we may have a problem." Oscar said.

"Oscar, what is that noise?"

"GRAAAAAAHHH!"

Angel blocked a blow from a large axe just as it was about to cut Samantha in two.

"W-W-What…" The Braixen stammered.

"A Shadow Pokémon…" The Absol mused as she parried the attack, sending the axe-wielding Exploud back.

True to her word, the Normal-type seemed devoid of normal expression and had a purple glint in his eyes, showing a desire to kill, kill, and kill some more.

Taryn instantly whipped up to the Exploud and slashed him across the face with claws of steel equipped on her fists.

However, the attack did barely any damage and the Jolteon had to double back before the Exploud's axe could connect.

"It'll take a lot to down him. It's best we just retreat for now!" Nathan yelled as he led his allies down another corridor and blasted away seven guards with the railgun.

"You heard him! Let's go!" Taryn yelled.

"Alright then. Take this!" Samantha threw down a yellow greenish gem at the Exploud's feet, causing a web to entrap the shadow Pokémon.

The Exploud let loose a Hyper Voice, sending the main cast who didn't get out of there fast enough back with plenty of pain.

"Dammit… We should've figured they'd have shadow Pokémon here!" Oscar grunted as he got up.

"No use complaining about it." Angel stated as she quickly got up and shook herself off. "We can't fight him in these corridors. If he chases us down, we'll just have to lead him to a large room."

"How the hell did he get here from a closed door again?" Taryn queried as the group ran through tight corridors.

"The door just opened, and when he saw us, he charged us." Angel answered. "How that door opened is beyond me. He should have lost the ability to think about that."

"Maybe he's one of the smarter ones?" Nathan said.

"I doubt it." Oscar replied. "The big guy only yelled at us without talking."

"Yeah, I get the feeling that the smarter ones can talk." Samantha added.

"Just like the esc-"

The Electric-type hacker of the team was cut off by a large explosion that rung the entire facility.

"What the hell is it this time!?"

"Shadow Pokémon must be running loose now that they've lost half the building…"Angel mused. "We need to get out of here and regroup with the others."

"Easier said than done." Taryn stated as the group took cover in an opened room. "We're on the seventeenth floor, and most of the others are on the fifteenth, thirteenth, eighth, and third. Not to mention these doors won't close."

"Darn, it's easier for us to move around, but easier for those Shadow Pokémon too."

"Then we'll fight our way through them all."

The five looked to the door to see a certain shiny Pokémon accompanied by a Fennekin.

"Part of me says this is going to be sort of fun, but the other part tells me I'm going to regret my decisions." The Fresh Snow stated.

"Yeah, we aren't going to enjoy this." Sarah added.

"What choice do we have?" Angel queried as she walked to one of the doors. "Follow me."

Right as the group began to walk over to the door the mercenary exited, the sound of cracking ice was heard. They all peeked their heads out, curious as to the source of the noise.

Before them was a ruthless gijinka clad in white standing in front of a frozen pile of Pokémon, all with purple glints in their eyes.

"No way." The Water-type lancer mumbled as he, along with the others walked up to the display.

Angel stood as still, seeming not to notice her allies walk up to her.

" _No… No. Not now, please…_ "

"Angel?"

"What?" The Absol turned quickly, almost drawing her sword in the process.

"You alright?" The Fire-type mage asked.

"Always am." The Disaster Pokémon gijinka replied coldly.

"There's no time to talk right now, there's still a whole lot more of them. Focus on the task at hand." Benjamin ordered.

"We can chit-chat later."

"Good point." Taryn stated.

"I hear more of them. Hold on…" Oscar trailed off as he blasted the corridor with his shotgun.

The explosion cluster felled a Skorupi and a Mankey. Their armor was torn, but they were notably Periculum soldiers.

"Gee, I'm glad those guys were just Periculum soldiers." The Floatzel remarked.

"Die!"

The team all looked to their right to see a Haunter with a purple glint in her eyes rush them with a Shadow Punch. Without looking, Angel thrusted her sword to her right and yawned immediately after the Ghost-type's body was stabbed by the normally-slicing broadsword.

"A-Ah…"

The Haunter smiled slightly before vanishing into thin air, leaving no traces of her existence.

"That was…"

"…Shadow Pokémon are still aware of their actions… They simply can't do anything but watch their bodies do all the work." Angel stated. "Don't try interrogating me, though… This is simply something I read off while I was away from you. Now, we have places to go."

"Alright… Fair enough. We have wasted enough time here." Nathan said.

"Hey, if you know anything that we need to, you've got to tell us later!" Taryn exclaimed as she and the others began their dash towards a staircase going down.

* * *

"RUN!"

"We're under attack! We're under attack!"

The Pokémon on the fleet began to retreat from the heavy fire from Periculum explosives alongside a certain tall gijinka throwing Ancientpower spams at the ship, giving his stats a boost every few times.

"Hmph… Then I'll just have to hunt them down after eliminating what's in here." The Armaldo mumbled to himself as he turned and began walking towards the base' first entrance.

Before him lay many fallen Resistance Pokémon. Blood pooled on the bodies, and each of them had expressions of fear etched into their faces.

"Hm… To attack a large base like this one… Their best bet is to find the control room."

The massive spear was carried seemingly effortlessly by the Rock- and Bug-type. He trekked through the base slowly, taking down any Pokémon who stood in his way- be they friend or foe.

"That Vaporeon and Gorebyss… They certainly had power radiating about them…" The ancient Pokémon mused. "Their type advantages and species' stat spreads will make this difficult… But I will destroy the nonetheless."

* * *

"Hey, you all hearing me!?"

The group of seven stopped and looked around for Ethan. However, a group of lower-evolution Shadow Pokémon began approaching them with murderous intent in their eyes.

"This is General Ethan! All Resistance, come in! I'm in the control room on the thirteenth floor! I can see what's going on here, and I don't like it!"

* * *

In the control room, Austyn, Vivian, and many other Resistance Pokémon were giving it their all to keep the Shadow Pokémon away from Ethan and a Servine helping the older Pokémon with the systems.

"Whoever's near a window, our fleet just retreated. They've taken too much fire from the soldiers down below! Everyone, we'll need to regroup on the nineteenth floor! There's a large stockpile of munitions there, and it'll be dangerous if we let the baddies keep taking explosives from there!"

* * *

"We get in there, take out the rest of these guys, and then we'll really capture this place! Oorah?" The General said.

"Oorah!" Shouts echoed around the facility from the remaining Resistance Pokémon.

"Worse comes to worse, we'll defend there and set up the assist beacon." Ethan's voice said on speakers.

"Assist beacon?" Sarah queried.

"He's going to call in another battalion from our forces around Driasia to save us." Nathan explained.

Taryn's Thunderbolt zapped down a Poliwag, Pidgey, Taillow, Zubat, Psyduck, Mantyke, Weedle, and Surskit.

Following that, Oscar's SPAS-12 delivered 12-gauge frag shells on another corridor, blasting away plenty of opponents.

"We'll have to split up here." Benjamin said. "Everyone, form small groups and go through each path!" The Ice-type commanded. "Sarah, with me."

"Yeah, you do that, hotshot, I'm sticking with my crew!" Oscar replied as Nathan provided cover with the railgun, knocking away plenty of Shadow Pokémon.

"Freeze." Angel's Ice Beam encased the opponents in her path with ice, followed by a spray of Psybeam from Samantha.

"Alright, we're clear on two paths."

Benjamin fired a heavy Ice Beam into the corridor they came from before running down the front path with Sarah in tow.

"Well, looks like they're off." Nathan said.

"What do you guys think? Should we split?" Samantha asked.

"We haven't covered this area yet…" Taryn stated disdainfully. "But my map reads that we're not very far from the next staircase."

"Then you decide what path we take." Angel said as she blocked and deflected a Mud Shot from a Marshtomp with her blade.

"Hm… Okay, we go this way!" Taryn rushed to her left and smacked down a shadow Deino with her clawed fists.

"Behind you!"

Samantha's Flamethrower torched an Oddish about to strike down the Jolteon gijinka.

"Thanks, owe you one."

"Don't mention it." The Braixen responded.

* * *

"We're almost there!" Vivian exclaimed as her group fought off the soldiers and shadow Pokémon coming at them.

"How much further?" Austyn queried as he shot an Aurora Beam at a Hitmonchan before the Fighting-type landed a shadowy tackle.

"Two more corridors." The Gorebyss replied and created a burst of energy that tore down the opponents standing in the way.

"HELP!" The duo turned to see a Volbeat in Resistance apparel about to be crushed by the strength of an Exploud.

"I got you, soldier!"

A pair of massive swords struck down the Normal-type. The General picked up the Volbeat and shot a Focus Blast into the corridor behind them to keep back the enemies.

"Move up! We don't have all day!" The Hard Scale Pokémon yelled.

* * *

A Shiny Glaceon and Fennekin ran into a messy room full of computers.

"They're all still on." Sarah comments. "Those files could be important." The Fennekin stated.

"Some information, I suppose?" The Ice-type asked. "Extract those files. I'll hold them off."

As if on cue, a horde of varying Pokémon appeared. Each of them rushed in with spears, swords, and whatever they could use as a weapon while others prepared to let loose their moves from a distance.

"Are you sure you can handle all of them, Benjamin?" The Firefox asked.

"I've fought off an entire military battalion before, so why can't I do it again?"

* * *

Four shadow Poochyena blocked the path, but a combined Water Pulse and Thunderbolt knocked them out.

"So that explains those guys." Nathan asked.

"So all those Pokémon that we passed by…"

"…Were shadow Pokémon."

"We can't let them keep up with Project S…"

"Yeah. Destroying the lives of innocents to conquer the world…"

"Cliché, but still something to be feared."

A large explosion rung throughout the facility, shaking the very floor the five stood on.

"What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know. We've just got to regroup with the others!"

"Phone call from Austyn." Taryn said and pulled out her phone, but not before taking cover behind a pair of walls surrounding a comfort room door. "Yeah?"

" _Taryn, where the hell are all of you? Whoever's left in the base is right here in the main armory!_ " The Vaporeon's voice exclaimed through the sounds of battle both from the phone and just next to the Electric-type.

"We're dealing with a bunch of guys ourselves, thank you very much!" Samantha replied as her Flamethrower struck down a Pidove.

" _Well then, you've got to find a way here. Something big is coming, and I'm not very sure that we'll be able to fend him off without the General's and Vivi's help._ "

"Something big?" Oscar asked as his Liquidation spear struck down a shadow Beedrill.

" _Something with enough power to blow away anyone who couldn't get here fast enough. You've got to hurry, because you're his next targets!_ "

Right on cue, the phone hung up and the wall a few doors away broke down. A tall Pokémon emitting a faint purple aura appeared as the smoke cleared.

He carried a massive spear almost twice his height, and blood coated his body- not of his own wounds, but that of the damage he did to what may have been other Pokémon.

"Well, well, well… What do we have here?" The shadow Armaldo mused as he eyed the five Pokémon. "It seems we have quite an unlikely group."

"None of your business." Angel stated as she pointed her sword forward.

"Do you really think a fancy sword like that will dent my armor?" The Bug- and Rock-type laughed as he threw a strong Ancientpower at the group, forcing them to duck to avoid the move.

The Rock-type attack however, collided with the other Periculum soldiers and shadow Pokémon attacking the main cast, leaving just the latter and the Armaldo.

"He doesn't even care about his own teammates, does he?"

The shadow lancer gijinka chuckled and emitted a purple energy that instantly took hold of the group, catching them off guard.

"What- what just happened?" Nathan asked.

"Shit…"Angel mused. "Shadow Down. It's a move that cuts down our physical defense stats… And it looks like he's been racking up stat boosts from Ancientpower."

"So, basically, if he hits us…"

"…We're going to turn into his dinner."

"You're quite the amusing bunch." The Armaldo stated. "And to have info on one of my shadow moves is quite impressive. I shall grace you with my name."

The tall lancer swung his spear around him, destroying the walls and sending light shockwaves in the area.

"I am Mirsinus of Stone! My spear will strike down all those who stand in my path! My impenetrable armor will withstand any move my foes send against me!"

"Mirsi what now?" Oscar asked.

"No time! Run!" Nathan yelled as another Ancientpower narrowly missed the group.

"We can't fight him like this." Angel stated. "Not in these halls, and not with our stat differences. We'll have to escape to your allies!" The Absol exclaimed and began running back the hall, followed by her teammates.

"With all of us there and General Ethan, we should be good!"

"You think you can get away from ME!?" Mirsinus roared and shot a Brine in their direction, but missed. He chuckled to himself and smashed down the ceiling above him with his spear before leaping up to the next floor.

* * *

A shadow Herdier fell by Benjamin's hatchet. The Fennekin unplugged her flash drive and regrouped with the Ice-type.

Suddenly, a large explosion racks the facility, shaking the ground the duo stood on.

"What was that?" Sarah asked, not knowing that a few floors below them, an Armaldo met the main cast for the first time.

"I have no idea. But it's best we check it out." The Fresh Snow answered.

"Then there isn't any time to waste. Let's hurry!"

* * *

"Take a left!" Nathan ordered. In the path the group originally intended to take stood Mirsinus, running straight at them at a slow pace, but still coming nonetheless.

"You can run all you want. I'll catch you sooner or later!" The Armaldo exclaimed with a roar as he swung his spear to his right, tearing down the entire room and giving him an angle at which to attack the main cast.

"Duck!" Samantha yelled and dropped to the floor. The team narrowly evaded another Ancientpower.

They then got back up and continued running down the halls, quickly knocking away any opponents that attempted to block them.

"Umm, okay, we should head up on the stairs… Right there!" The team hacker pointed at a stairwell they didn't pass through earlier.

Suddenly, a large hole tore right behind them, forcing Oscar to block a powerful swing from Mirsinus' spear with his own.

"S-Shit… A little help, please!?" Oscar struggled under the might of the shadow Pokémon's sheer strength and weight.

"Leave him alone!" Taryn exclaimed before shooting a Shadow Ball at the Armaldo, causing him to back off for just a moment.

This gave Oscar a second to breathe before he continued running with his teammates up the stairs.

"Hmm, these ones aren't as easy as the rest." Mirsinus mused as he destroyed the ceilings above him and skipped to the next few floors once more.

* * *

As the group reached the end of the stairwell, they found themselves on the sixteenth floor. They all looked around to make sure they were clear before running down the next hall.

"That guy- he's not like the other shadow baddies we've faced!" Nathan commented.

"The only explanation is he's with Project F." Samantha said. "One of the 'special' shadow Pokémon who got a lot more attention than the rest of his buddies."

"That explains why he can kind of think." Oscar stated.

"You're not escaping me!"

The group turned to see Mirsinus jump up and go for a heavy strike with his arm in a Crush Claw.

They all sidestepped to avoid the move and either jumped or ducked to dodge a swing from the mighty spear carried by the Armaldo.

"Freeze!" Angel focused her Ice Beam to trap the Armaldo's legs and head in ice, giving her and her allies a window to escape.

"Don't move." Nathan fired a single Spirit Shackle arrow into the Armaldo, rooting him to the spot further.

"Let's go!"

The team continued their way through corridors, rooms, and paths to locate the next set of stairs. Their efforts were unfruitful as they only found a few soldiers and shadow Pokémon trying to stop them.

"It won't be long before my arrow's energy wears off and the ice melts. We've got to locate that exit!" The Decidueye exclaimed.

"No shit!" Oscar retorted. "I don't want to get pulverized either!"

"Too slow!"

The group instinctively used their spear, sword, and claws to block a focused swing from the gigantic lance.

"Parry him now!" Angel ordered. She, along with Oscar and Taryn both returned force and sent Mirsinus back a couple of feet.

Following that was a Psybeam and a Razor Leaf combo onto the ancient Pokémon. Mirsinus shook his head and roared before letting loose a group of floating rocks to attack the team.

"Shield us from wrath!" Samantha exclaimed and threw up a white gem, creatinga Protect that kept back the Ancientpower.

"Go, go, go!"

The team continued like this for a while more until they found the staircase and made their way up.

* * *

"Over here!" Austyn yelled out to the group escaping an Armaldo in hot pursuit.

"Just a little further, guys!" Samantha exclaimed.

As soon as the five entered the armory, a large vault door sealed the entrance shut tightly, locking out Mirsinus.

"You just had to lead him here, didn't you?" Austyn questioned.

"Hey, it was do or die out there!" Oscar replied.

"In any case, good to see you all made it." The Vaporeon stated. "What of the captain and his partner?"

"We don't know."

"Dammit… We'll have to look for them when this is over." Ethan stated as he walked over. "Everyone's ready, now we're just waiting for him to break down that door. You have about three minutes before he does, so get yourselves ready." Ethan stated as he cocked a pair of AK-47s.

"You can dual wield assault rifles?" Nathan asked with wonder in his eyes.

"Hah, being older has its perks." The General of the Resistance replied. "You learn to do things like that and how to do it effectively."

"Gee, wish I was ambidextrous like you, General."

Around the room, plenty of Resistance soldiers were stationed around the walls and other platforms in the heightened room. Weapons lined the walls that could be reached by any Pokémon on the ground, and stairs, ladders, and other platforms allowed the many Resistance Pokémon to travel around the container-like armory.

"Oh, that's right, I've forgotten." Ethan said. "Here, gather around."

The Golisopod pulled out a white gem that burst into a thin fog that enveloped the main cast.

"There, you should have your Defense stats back."

"Thank you, General."

Following that, every Resistance Pokémon in the room all prepared themselves, checking their weaponry from the many different guns, blades, and the like the armory held as well as ammo types. Ethan explained briefly which would be the best and why.

"Those explosive rounds won't count for anything against his kind of armor. They've equipped him with blast shields, so bigger bullets with longer barrels will be more useful." The Golisopod stated as some members began equipping silencers to their guns to increase damage and range output.

The vault door began to shake and crack against the force of the Crush Claw and the spear of Mirsinus.

"As soon as he steps into the center platform down here, everyone will open fire! The eight of us will stay down here and take him head on!" Ethan exclaimed.

The Pokémon who were once standing on the bottom platform with the main cast, Ethan, Austyn, and Vivian all began ascending to posts from which they could shoot at the entrance and hide in the event of Ancientpower or Brine attacks.

"S-So he's powered up…" Vivian mused.

"Very." Angel replied. "He's got enough strength to make even your species' defenses seem like paper."

"Well then, we're just going to have to deal with that." Austyn said.

"Hmm, as soon as everyone needs to reload, I'm thinking of throwing up a Haze. What do you all think?" Nathan queried.

"I think it's a fine idea, archer." Ethan stated.

"I'll try to get a Toxic in before you do that." Samantha said.

"Angel, you can use Double Team, right?" Austyn quizzed. The Absol nodded. "Then you and I will both use it once the Haze goes out, keep him busy for a few more seconds and give everyone a chance to eat away at the guy's armor."

"Fine, then."

"You two…" Vivian looked towards Oscar and Taryn. "Back me up, OK? The three of us and General Ethan will give that shadow Pokémon everything we've got once the Double Team clones come up."

"You got it." The Jolteon replied.

"Heh, he doesn't know how bad he's screwed." Oscar remarked.

The vault door then burst down, and instantly a rain of Ancientpower was sent flying to the eight Pokémon on the ground.

"Now, die!" Mirsinus exclaimed as he rushed in and took just a second to analyze the room around him.

"Now!" Ethan commanded. The Pokémon around all began shooting up the Armaldo standing in the center of the platform, while the other eight stuck to the walls to avoid friendly fire.

Samantha hurled a purple cloud of Toxic at Mirsinus, landing half the cloud onto the Armaldo's tail.

"Grr…" The Plate Pokémon roared and threw a few Brine attacks upwards, forcing the Resistance to hide.

"Over here." Nathan said, catching the Armaldo's attention. The owl archer was now above him. He cast a Haze to blind the Armaldo momentarily, forcing him to swing his spear and Crush Claws randomly.

"Angel, get ready!"

"Hmph… You stay alert too."

Mirsinus roared and flung random attacks around him. Not a single strike hit, and the aura he emitted slowly began turning red and black.

"Now!"

A Fan-Rotom blew away the fog, giving the soldiers the opportunity to aim at the boss standing in the center of the room.

"Double Team!"

Multiple copies of Angel and Austyn surrounded the Armaldo within seconds, giving the Resistance time to shoot down Mirsinus with a second round of high-caliber weaponry.

The storm of bullets was with just small effects, due to all the defensive boosts acquired by the Armaldo over a series of Ancientpowers.

"You… I'll make you regret that!" The Plate Pokémon roared.

"Our turn!" Vivian exclaimed and shot a Hydro Pump, backed up by Water Pulse, and then a Thunderbolt.

The water-type moves did wonders against the Rock-type. Thunderbolt's damage was increased by the water coating the boss Pokémon, causing him to roar and send out plenty of Ancientpowers that missed.

Suddenly, from the entrance of the armory, a pair of small figures rush in and step to the sides before leaping towards the Armaldo. A hatchet and a long knife coated in a glowing orange aura struck at Mirsinus' legs.

The attacks hardly dented the Armaldo. The two figures instantly backed away.

"Benjamin and Sarah!" Ethan exclaimed.

The duo then fired every bullet their pistols had into the Armaldo before regrouping with the other eight on the ground.

"Ten against one!" Samantha commented.

"Do you honestly think… That your little plan is working!?" Mirsinus roared and emitted a black and red aura that flinched everyone in the room. "Fall!"

The Armaldo swung his spear in a Brutal Swing attack, forcing the ten Pokémon on the ground to back off to avoid being narrowly hit by the tip of the large spear.

 **[Boss – Mirsinus of Stone]**

Mirsinus roared and charged towards Ethan. The Golisopod leapt into the air and unloaded both of his rifles before tossing them up to the waiting hands of the Resistance up above on the platforms.

"Burn!" Samantha shot a beam of flames at the opponent. The Armaldo shrugged off the blast like it was nothing, and did the same to an Aurora Beam thrown by Austyn.

"Sit still." Nathan fired a Spirit Shackle into the boss. Mirsinus whacked away the arrow with a Crush Claw before it hit and even used the move to block a swing from Angel's blade.

"Dammit!" The Absol cursed under her breath and backed off to dodge a Brine attack.

"I got him!" Taryn used Agility to speed around the field and evade a strike from the massive spear.

"Over here, jackass!" Oscar used Liquidation on the Rock-type, dealing just a little damage to the powered up opponent.

"General, do you have any more of those stat-resetting gems?" Vivian asked and threw up a Barrier to give her enough time to move away from the radius of Brutal Swing.

"They're all dry, Vivi!" The Golisopod answered and pulled out his two great swords.

Taryn shot a Stored Power attack paired with Razor Leaves from the owl archer. The Armaldo still didn't seem to be taking damage and only got more angry.

"Reverse Mode!" Mirsinus screamed and charged the Braixen and Gorebyss with a spear cloaked in black and red energy.

"That hit will knock you out in one blow!" Angel exclaimed and shot a Shadow Ball to try and stop the Armadlo.

Her efforts were unfruitful and the move nearly connected with the Fire- and Water-types.

"What was that!?"

"Shadow Break. A shadow move with fairly high power." Angel explained and rushed Mirsinus with a Night Slash.

"You don't know how much trouble you're in." Mirsinus stated as he clashed his weapon against Angel's. The Absol managed to hold him off, allowing Spirit Shackle, Water Pulse, Flamethrower, and Thunderbolt to land heavy blows on the boss Pokémon.

"Hey, pick on someone your own size!" Ethan exclaimed and swung one sword at the Rock- and Bug-type.

"You may have the type advantage, but I…" Mirsinus trailed off as the black and red aura around him grew in size. "…I am a shadow Pokémon!"

A Shadow Break collided with Ethan's swords, forcing the General back even with his mighty strength. Angel's Night Slash landed a few blows but not a single one landed any critical hits.

" _Battle Armor._ " The Dark-type thought before jumping back to dodge a Crush Claw.

A reflex Brutal Swing sent Nathan and Oscar back before they could move in with Liquidation and a hopeful stab from the Decidueye's knife.

While Oscar grunted and got back to his feet, Nathan screamed in pure agony as the super-effective move sent him flying to the wall.

"Nathan!" The Braixen exclaimed.

"One fly down…" Mirsinus mused as the red and black aura dissipated.

"Dammit, he didn't even take any damage from being in Reverse Mode!" Taryn shouted.

"What the hell is Reverse Mode!?" Sarah queried as she ducked and countered by shooting the Armaldo's head with her pistol.

The bullet simply recoiled off the Armaldo, but Mirsinus noticeably flinched for the slightest of moments before continuing a barrage of attacks against the Pokémon on the ground, ignorant of the rain of accurate bursts from above.

"Incoming!" Ethan yelled as he blocked a Crush Claw with his two swords. The Golisopod parried the move and jumped back to fire a Focus Blast in the opponent's way.

"Basically, they only use shadow moves, get emotional, and take a little damage!" Taryn explained quickly and fired a Stored Power at the Armaldo paired with a Psychic blast from Vivian.

"Drown!" Austyn created a wave that swamped down onto Mirsinus and avoid the other nine Pokémon on the stage.

A Spirit Shackle trapped the Armaldo in place before he could move in towards the Vaporeon with a Shadow Break.

Above, on a platform, Nathan sat down, clearly badly injured by the Brutal Swing from earlier, but he was still providing as much support as he could along with the other Pokémon throwing down an attack or bullet whenever they could.

"You can't stop me!" The Armaldo exclaimed and shot an Ancientpower at Vivian and Angel.

The move hit home and caused the two girls to grunt in pain before countering with a Shadow Ball encased in an Icy Wind.

Still, the attacks didn't do much damage as the Armaldo's stat boosts allowed him to shrug off every hit thrown at him.

Benjamin shot the Armaldo in the head a couple more times with his pistols, followed by a Shock Wave from Samantha.

Mirsinus roared in response and stomped down on the ground to break free from the ghostly energy trapping him.

"Oh, shit." Austyn melted into water right as a Shadow Break was about to connect, giving everyone time to either shoot or throw a move at the lancer. Ethan charged in with a Razor Shell in his blades.

The move pushed the Armaldo back by three meters with a grunt. Mirsinus roared and managed to land a Shadow Break on the Golisopod.

"Damn you!" Mirsinus exclaimed as he shot an Ancientpower back at Ethan. The Golisopod rolled over to dodge the move, despite the massive amount of pain he felt.

"That blow… Was really strong…" Ethan coughed. His armor where the blow hit his torso was cracked, but otherwise, he seemed fine enough.

"Don't let him take out the General!" Austyn commanded and created Double Team clones to keep Mirsinus at bay, while Vivian rushed to the Golisopod's side.

"Freeze!" Angel exclaimed and let loose a charged Ice Beam aimed at the Armaldo's hands. Mirsinus turned to let the move hit his back while blocking another Liquidation from Oscar's spear.

" _That's it!_ " Angel rushed the Armaldo with a quick Night Slash. This time, the move dealt more damage than the previous hits.

"Good hit!" Samantha commented as she threw another Toxic, but missed as the Armaldo jumped to dodge.

"If Liquidation and Razor Shell can keep hitting him, his defense will fall back to normal levels." Angel stated.

"So that means…"

"Everyone! Change of plans!" Austyn yelled. "We need to keep him distracted! General Ethan and Oscar here will just have to keep cutting down his defense!"

"Damn you!" Mirsinus roared and charged Austyn with a Crush Claw. However, the Vaporeon used Acid Amor to keep from being hit.

Samantha took the opportunity to throw a Toxic onto the Armaldo. This time, the move landed completely, causing the Armaldo to grunt in pain and shake himself.

"Damn all of you to hell!" The Plate Pokémon roared.

"Hah… Thank you, Vivian." Ethan said as he stood up, now ready to fight again. The Golisopod threw a Sludge Bomb at the Armaldo, then threw a Sucker Punch before the Armaldo could use Brutal Swing to fling away Oscar.

The Floatzel then landed another Liquidation, forcing Mirsinus back a couple of feet.

Benjamin, Sarah, Samantha, and Angel all combined a double Flamethrower and a double Ice Beam that bounced right off the Armaldo. However, they caught his attention.

"Now, you're mine!" The boss yelled as he rushed the four with a Shadow Break.

"Oh, no you don't."

Before them, Vivian took the full grunt of the attack with a Barrier to keep the move at bay. However, the super-effective attack connected and sent the Gorebyss flying back towards a wall.

"Vivi!"

The pink gijinka coughed but stood up nevertheless.

"I'll be fine… Finish him!"

Austyn nodded and shot multiple weak Aurora Beams at the Armaldo. The moves managed to half Mirsinus' physical strength, allowing Ethan to block a Crush Claw with ease.

"Now, we're even." Ethan said as he and the Armaldo applied as much pressure as they could against one another's weapons.

"Hey, I'm the one you want!" Taryn exclaimed as she fired multiple Stored Powers followed by a Shadow Ball.

"Hmph, then I may as well." Angel fired her own Shadow Ball.

"His power is being cut! Now's our chance!" Benjamin yelled.

"Now, let's settle this." Ethan mused as he parried the Armaldo and shot a reflex Sludge Bomb at the attacker.

"Gah! How dare you…" The Armaldo coughed out poisoned blood from the Toxic and from the damage he had taken.

Despite that, Mirsinus still stood tall and released a Shadow Down that cut down everyone's defenses.

"I will not die by the likes of scum like you!" Mirsinus roared. However, he was finally cut off by a pair of bullets entering his mouth at high velocity, courtesy of Benjamin and Sarah.

"Will you shut up already!?" The duo shouted.

"Let me help you with that." Austyn stated as he casually walked over to the Shiny Glaceon and Fennekin. He snapped his fingers, causing a massive wave to come crashing down on the Armaldo.

Followed by that were Thunderbolt, Shock Wave, Water Pulse, and Ice Beam from the main cast.

Mirsinus roared in agony as the armor on his body began to crack. He then glared down the Golisopod standing before him and rushed him with a Shadow Break.

"Not this time." Ethan said before slamming past the Armaldo with Sucker Punch. Mirsinus groaned and fell to his knees, dropping his spear.

"D-Damn you… Damn all of you!" The Rock- and Bug-type roared before gurgling the Toxic out of his system and ultimately falling to the ground.

"We did it…" Nathan mused before throwing a coughing fit.

"Alright, before anything else, go get some potions for the injured." Ethan ordered in a more calm tone now. "We just went to hell and took down everyone living in it."

"Sir, yes, sir."

* * *

Later on, the ships returned, and reinforcements from the Resistance's center, north, and south came to aid the current forces in the base. Those who didn't survive the ordeal were gathered in coffins and body bags to be taken back home, while those who survived were being treated.

Any Periculum soldiers were held captive, but due to their efforts, all the shadow Pokémon escaped the base.

Now, everyone was relaxing on the lounging room on the first floor, not far off from the main entrance of the base. People were chatting, eating, drinking, and having a merry time.

"General Ethan." Sarah said, gaining the attention of the Golisopod.

"What is it?" The Hard Scale Pokémon gijinka asked of the Fennekin standing next to the short Glaceon.

"We may have found some useful data. We'd like you to check it out, sir." Benjamin stated.

"Oh, that. I figure that's from the middle floors, right?"

"Aye."

"Then we'll have a look at that in the main base of operations in the country's center. I trust you wouldn't mind?" The General queried.

"We don't mind, sir." Sarah replied.

"Thank you. And by the way, the rewards will be waiting for you in the center. I can't thank you both enough for what you've done for us these past few days."

Along the room were other Pokémon going to and fro, examining newly obtained information, hacking into the other computers in the facility, guarding the place, and the like.

"You doing alright, buddy?" Oscar quizzed.

"Much better now." Nathan answered.

"You're lucky you survived that hit."

"Yeah, if it was that shadow move, you probably would be dead by now."

"Technically, I'm half dead."

The main cast as well as the other Pokémon gathered with them shared a hearty laugh.

* * *

On the other hand, at the top of the facility where the helicopters were landed, stood a lone Absol carrying a bloodied broadsword with a bronze blade.

" _Hmph… He was advanced…_ " Angel thought to herself. " _It isn't exactly being perfected… He still had plenty of flaws I know they'd want removed from him._ "

Angel looked down to the merry Pokémon down below. The last of the reinforcements just arrived, and the numbers of the Resistance down below made a pair of Periculum C-130s turn away from the scene, diving into the clouds to attempt discretion.

" _Just how far are they, exactly?_ " Angel asked herself. " _The data held in the labs down below is indeed useful… But how will I be able to get it from them?_ "

In the distance, the C-130s were beginning to disappear along the horizon. Angel watched them warily and with contempt.

" _Periculum… They're not going to lose to the Resistance with power like that. If three of their best could barely handle a single incomplete Shadow Pokémon, how much more when they face two, or even_ her?"

Angel sighed and shook her head.

" _It's a good thing that none were around me earlier…_ " The Absol thought back to the terrified faces of the Periculum soldiers after she split up with her team and Benjamin and Sarah.

" _Hmph… Simply a means to an end…_ "

* * *

Later on, the sun set and the Resistance were already sending every bit of information they could to the main headquarters, where the most important details will be talked about by meeting, and then everything is spread across Driasia for every member of the Resistance- whether a fighter, a team, or even the locals hiding their allegiance with the Resistance and spreading as much news as they can across the country.

The Resistance in the Periculum base were out and about, scouting and scanning the interior for anything important aside from the documents on computers, such as papers, records, items, or anything.

What did puzzle them was why their enemy left the base mostly unguarded, given that it was one of their main bases.

"Dude, I was thinking they'd have way more than just that guy with the spear." A Fraxure commented.

"Yeah, it would make a lot more sense if they had a third of their Project F Pokémon in here." A Slurpuff replied.

"And the captain from their naval forces wasn't here either." A Bruxish added.

Ahead of the three were a Silcoon and a Cherubi, both talking about how the base surprisingly had a pleasant layout when you weren't fighting.

Meanwhile, in another room, Ethan was all by himself, opening a computer and logging into his online account.

The Golisopod clicked on a nearly invisible icon of a sword at the top left of the page.

"Damn small symbols. Going to need reading glasses soon."

The General found himself on an alternate variant of the website- with designs depicting the Resistance flag, their fortress in the southeast, and their primary base of operations in the center where Tobias ruled.

Ethan clicked on the said Flygon's icon on his friends list. A chat window appeared. The Water- and Bug-type adjusted the camera to capture his face properly.

After a moment of waiting, the blank screen within the window flickered to life, revealing Tobias himself. Next to him was a certain mute Meowstic boy, waving a hello to the General.

"Tobias, lad, we've done it."

"I know. I'm quite excited myself over all this… Finally being able to break into some of their most secure files like this."

* * *

In Tobias' main room, with the large gaming setup **s** were plenty of Periculum files being received from the base, while Matt, alongside a Liepard and Audrey were reading the data presented to them.

"It's amazing to see how much we accomplished in such little time." The Flygon remarked.

"Yes, especially since we haven't made any very significant progress over the last six months." Ethan said. "Say, Matt, how are you doing?"

The Meowstic looked to the Flygon and got a nod. Tobias moved his seat over to allow Matt to move his towards the keyboard.

" _I'm doing well, General. Whatever files your teams there can't crack, I'm handling right now. Audrey's here helping me send them back to your side for fairness' sake._ "

"Good to see, lad." The Golisopod stated. Matt nodded and disappeared from the camera as the Durant Captain's voice called him in the background.

"So, Ethan, what's up right now?" Tobias asked as he moved the chair over to the center of the camera's field of vision.

"Everyone is scouring the base for anything that we missed or anything that may be of use to us. Otherwise, everyone's enjoying the fact that they managed to help in keeping this place from the C-130s that passed by earlier."

"C-130s?" The not-so-Mystic Pokémon quizzed.

"Yes, Tobias. C-130s." The Hard Scale gijinka responded.

* * *

"They sent a pair of very slow moving C-130s, unarmed, according to Benjamin's scouts. However, based on their observations and that of the Resistance scouts here, they were filled to the brim with more Periculum soldiers."

"I see…" The two Resistance leaders paused. "Why would they leave one of their main bases like that? It doesn't add up, especially since we just attacked the waterway a while back."

"Yes, it does. It's been one of the main topics for discussion among the Pokémon gathered here." Ethan replied. "Aside from the fact that they had a Project F Pokémon plus a few stronger Shadow Pokémon, the base was fairly unguarded."

"Hm… Anyway, whenever you're done there, send our stars back over here. And see what Angel will do while you're at it." Ethan nodded. "Maybe we could give the merc a ride to the Center before she leaves us."

"Ah, as much as she was quiet, she's a very good battler." Ethan remarked. "One of these days, if we cross paths again, she would be an interesting foe to face in a friendly battle." The Flygon chuckled.

"I think she might try to kill you, though." Tobias responded with a laugh.

"Bah, between this armor and typing with my experience, I don't think she'll be able to do that very quickly."

The two leaders conversed further, and eventually Audrey joined their conversation. After exchanging information and updating one another, they gave their farewells for the time being and logged off.

Ethan rolled the office chair he was sitting on while he took a sip out of a cup of tea on the desk.

"Hm… Now I see why the younger generation likes doing this." Ethan mused with a smile as he spinned the chair further.

"Angel… What will you do, now that you've gotten this deep into our war with Periculum?"

* * *

"Hey, I just realized something." Nathan stated.

"What?"

"What happened earlier was Angel's last mission with us." The owl archer said. His friends paused for a moment to think.

"The first was the sabotage in the north, the second was the outpost raid, the third was our undercover op in Virtue City, the fourth was that naval battle, and the fifth was the raid… Huh, you're right." Samantha responded.

"Gee, it feels like we've come so very far with her already." Taryn commented.

"Dang, it won't be the same without her." Oscar stated.

"When you think about it, if all four of us fight her, she'll just wipe the floor with us." Taryn said, earning a light chuckle out of her friends.

"I'm actually going to miss her." Samantha said. "She wasn't the nicest of Pokémon, but… She's still a pretty cool gijinka."

"Yeah, no kidding." Nathan said. "Especially when she walked away from the big explosion back in the simulator."

"Yeah, that looked so badass." Oscar added.

"Even then, we wouldn't want her just for her power." The Firefox said.

"Past the first things you'll notice about her, she has some good qualities about her." The Decidueye commented.

"It's been quite a wild ride so far." The yellow gijinka mused.

"It sure does feel that way, after just ordinary missions for six months." The Water-type added.

"Hey, think she'll say yes to a goodbye photo?" The Braixen queried.

"That… Won't be necessary." The four turned their heads to the Absol walking towards them. Angel took a sip from her glass of water before sitting down on the couch with the team.

"Angel?"

"I'm not leaving yet, if your leaders don't mind my presence." The white gijinka stated.

"Wait, are you serious?" The Floatzel asked.

"Would you rather I leave?" The Dark-type asked.

"No, no! It's not that at all." The Fox Pokémon gjiinka said.

"It's just… We weren't expecting you to do that." The Grass- and Ghost-type archer remarked.

"So you don't have anything against it?" The mercenary queried.

"Yeah… In fact, it's pretty awesome that you're planning on staying." The Jolteon said.

"Wait, what about your reward for the missions?" Nathan asked.

"I'll still take it, of course." Angel responded. "But I'll work with the Resistance for a little while longer… For free."

"You didn't get hit in the head or something, did you?" Oscar asked.

"It's basic mercenary code to always have some form of reward for your services." Nathan added.

"Hmph, it's not a law that must be followed… It's simply a norm for my fellows." The Disaster Pokémon said.

"So you're actually going to stay with us." Samantha stated.

"Yes."

"Well then…"

"Wait." Angel interrupted. "Your leaders haven't approved yet… I'd rather wait for their say before we can announce anything." The white gijinka explained. "Besides… Though I'll temporarily be signed in with the Resistance, there's no guarantee I'll be with you."

"But still… We'll still get to see you every so often." The Absol sighed.

"When did you become obsessive over me?" The group laughed.

* * *

"So, you're moving back to the center." Audrey stated over the monitor.

"We are?" Oscar asked.

"Yes, you are." The Durant replied with a giggle.

"Gee, that was fast." Taryn rolled her eyes.

"You'll be called back over here to the base once we've arranged what to brief everyone about. Until then, you guys are staying in the slums for now."

"Darn, alright…" Nathan responded.

"You take care of yourselves, alright? And as for you…" The Durant's eyes turned to what the team presumed was the Absol mercenary standing with them. "…Thanks a ton, Angel, for all the help. Your reward will be waiting for you here in the base, then you can go."

"Actually, I have a proposition to make…" Angel replied. Audrey tilted her head to her side in confusion, while Ethan, who was seated on a couch nearby theirs, looked over with curiosity.

"Hm?"

"I… Intend to stay here with the Resistance for some more time." Angel stated, to the surprise of the two Bug-type leaders of the Resistance. "I'm not working for any extra rewards… So don't get the wrong idea."

"Wait, you _want_ to stay?" Angel nodded at the Iron Ant's question.

"I fully intend to remain in the ranks of the Resistance for a little more time than my contract states. I'll collect my pay whenever I pass by, and if possible… I'll be staying with this team." The Absol stated.

Audrey paused while Ethan walked over without a word.

"Lass, you're in."

"I second that notion." The Durant captain said.

"We'll go inform the others later… But as of now… Welcome to the Resistance of Driasia, Angel."

The Absol nodded in acknowledgment before walking away.

"Hang on, where are you going now?" Samantha queried.

"To get some fresh air." Angel replied before exiting out the door.

"Well, well, well… I think I might consider having you lot go through Elite's Training." Ethan remarked and chuckled.

"You guys have survived some really crazy stuff, and you even got a Pokémon like Angel to join you. That deserves some serious credit." Audrey said with a small clap. "Congrats, guys~!"

"Thanks, Audrey. But we really should be thanking Angel for wanting to stay with us." The Fire-type Fox stated.

"You got me there." The Bug- and Steel-type replied. "Good luck in the Slums again… Your objective is to hide. The rest of the Resistance there will slowly change places with the ones in the mountain ops so they hopefully don't wind up on the news."

"Wha? How does that work?" Oscar asked.

"Because, the other Periculum bases might have gotten some of the footage of the cameras in this one while we were fighting." Taryn explained. "We don't have any idea of knowing how much, we just know that they've got something to use against us."

"Exactly why we're having everyone who was there during the raid move out across the country." The Resistance Captain added.

"Hmm, sound logic." The owl archer remarked.

"So, you guys better start packing whatever you feel like taking with you into obviously one of the more dangerous places in Driasia." Audrey suggested. "We'll send a friend of ours to call you back to a base once enough time has passed. Until then, do whatever you want. No need for disguises."

"Yeah, they'll never find a specific face in the slums with their style." Oscar said.

With that, the group watched the stars shine in the night sky, now free of the clouds from earlier.

* * *

"I'll take one, please."

"Hm, you're an odd one."

The bartender, a Rhyhorn, in a dirty café full of loud and talkative gijinkas filled a fairly clean glass with apple juice and handed it to the one sitting on the stool.

A girl dressed in blue.

"Thank you."

"Manners don't come by very often." The bartender said. "Where are you from, pretty lady?"

The girl giggled and blinked her black pupils.

"Driasia, of course." She responded then sipped her juice. The bartender shrugged and walked away to serve another customer.

"Heeey there, beautiful…" A Houndour gijinka with bleary eyes greeted as he stumbled over to the girl. "Wanna come with us?" He asked with a hiccup, pointing to a table with a group of drunk men like himself.

"Sorry, I'll have to turn the offer down." The girl replied. "But I do appreciate that you think I'm pretty."

"Aw, come on… We've got some really good stuff for someone like you." The Houndour burped and slumped to the floor, to be taken back to his friends by a Tyrogue gijinka.

The girl returned to drinking her apple juice. She then looked to see the new Pokémon who came in- another girl standing 5'2 wearing a a black dress that opened into a frilly black build right above the knees. Her sleeves went down all the way to her hands, while white stockings covered all of her legs. Her orange hair was in an updo with music note-like patterns, complimented by a pair of orange eyes. The girl's face showed obvious signs of either boredom or tiredness. The gijinka walked towards a stool next to the blue girl, ignoring all the stares the men were giving her.

"Hey, we have two hot babes in this place…" A voice whispered.

"Yo, we should all just get them now…"

"Yeah, just look at them…"

The girl in the black dress sighed and took a seat. The bartender looked over to her and the blue girl before gulping and stepping away.

"Oh, come on, what now?" The second girl asked, signs of stress evident in her voice.

The blue girl, on the other hand, finished her apple juice in a light sip, seemingly ignorant of the number of gijinkas gathering around them.

"Oh, fuck off…" The other girl said.

"Hey there, babies, wanna do this the easy way?" a Scraggy queried.

"Leave me alone…" The black girl sighed as she stood up and stood nervously, ready to defend herself.

"Hey, it looks like this one just gave up." A Deino said as he approached the blue girl with arms outstretched.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The sitting girl stated.

"You think a threat will work on me, baby?"

The blue girl sighed and avoided the Deino's reach as she walked over to the more nervous girl.

"One doesn't see a Mythical Pokémon around these parts everyday…" The blue girl whispered to the Meloetta gijinka. "…Especially your species in that form."

"Yeah, well, I just like being a Pirouette better than an Aria." The Fighting- and Normal-type replied.

The blue girl giggled and pulled out a white gem from her bag.

"I'll handle these guys… And since you need a break, go to your place and I'll stop by in a bit."

The Meloetta gave her a confused look.

"…What are you?" She asked, no longer keeping her voice down.

"Hmm, a pain in the ass for all the men here."

In an instant, the whole room was clouded in a Smokescreen, followed by a very bright Flash.

"Let's go." The blue girl's voice said as she led the way through blinded and coughing men.

The Meloetta followed just as fast as the other ran. Within minutes, the duo had escaped about a hundred feet away from the location.

The Meloetta than turned to the blue girl and sighed.

"Thanks for the save… What can I do for you?" The Meloetta asked.

"I know your profession, D." The blue girl replied with a smile. The Meloetta took a wary step back in response before calming herself.

"Uh… D?" The blue girl giggled.

"You and I both know what I mean… I just wouldn't want to spoil our next segment."

"What?"

"You wouldn't understand." The blue girl responded with her neverending smile. "Now, I owed you a drink. Like I said, I'll stop by your place. Don't worry about giving me directions- I have my ways."

"…I don't know why I believe that."

"What I want in return, I will tell you later. For now, just try to get back without causing anymore commotions, A."

With that, the blue girl walked away, leaving the Meloetta in the alleyway.

"I… Just what was she?"

* * *

 _Now that I have this uploaded, I need to get back to studying for the quizzes I have tomorrow. Every single subject is one, kinda makes it feel like a Long Test from JHS. Huehue…_

 _Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Segment two will officially begin in the next chapter, if not one more Segment one chapter. And with the beginning of segment two, the true beginning to_ Shadows in War.

 _I guess Angel's decision didn't surprise anyone. And from the description, I think you can guess why she did._

 _Oh, right, silencers. I forgot how exactly to word it, so do excuse me. In-games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, or anything that has silencers, a silencer has the following effects: Reduces recoil, removes muzzle flash, keeps you off the radar when firing, and reduces damage and range. For example: I have an AK-47 (MW1/MW2). It kills in three hits(I forgot the exact bodyshot bullet number for a kill), two if you have Stopping Power. Now this is assuming we aren't headshotting the target. AK-47 is also known for having a lot of recoil, and when you shoot, like with any other gun, you'll show up on enemy radar, giving them an idea for where you, and potentially your allies are._

 _Now, with a silencer, the weapon will kill in five or so hits to the body, three to five with Stopping Power. You won't appear on radar, the gun is harder to hear, the muzzle flash and annoying recoil is gone, but you lose on the amount of damage you can do with the gun._

 _In real life, a silencer has all the good stuff we're used to except it also increases damage and range. Yes, really. So, why didn't they do that in the games? Well, obviously, if you had that kind of power in a game where you can dump your gun into a wall without difficulty, (seen only in third person view/from another player's perspective when facing a wall with a long weapon) you'd be OP as hell. Imagine, if you will, an SMG that one hit kills_ **anything** _without a headshot. Then give it Rapid Fire, Extended Mags, or an ACOG scope for range. And you don't show up on enemy radar, recoil is reduced, and you aren't blinded by muzzle flash._

 _So how does it work? Well, when the trigger of the weapon is pulled, the pressure gets absorbed, then cycled by the suppressor. That pressure then escapes through exactly the same place where the bullet leaves the gun to hit a target. However, the catch here is that the pressure follows behind the bullet, **pushing the bullet further**. This gives the bullet a push which adds to its speed slightly, increasing its effective damage and range. Ever wondered why Sniper Rifles always have the best range? It's those really long barrels they have. _

_So, what is a negative effect to suppressors in real life? Longer gun. Yes, longer weapon means more range, but try moving around tight corners, hallways, and corridors with something long, say for example, an umbrella. Assuming your parasol isn't wet, try carrying it around narrow places and then looking around as fast as you would in an FPS game. Gun doesn't go through walls in real life._

 _I just realized I'm a nerd. Hehehe._

 _Oh, sorry about having_ **her** _break the fourth wall just now. She just did that because she felt like it._

 _Tell me what you think about the chapter! It's much shorter than I had planned, and a lot of scenes are missing. But I figured I wanted this up for now, since it works… Keep you entertained while I put my mind to memorizing things in school._

 _Hope you've been enjoying the story so far. I might re-post what I said in my update here, for those who didn't read it… My OCD is like that. :D_

 _Anyways, since I don't have much else to say, this is Shade, signing off._

 ** _UPDATE 7-30-2017:_** _Fixed the lines. Either my internet is crappy (due to my location) or Fanfiction simply won't load the changes I make when I edit a document I upload to the site. Guh. No wonder a lot of viewers left early on. Hehehe._


	14. C14, S2 - The Driasian Slums

Shadows in War, Chapter 14, Segment 2 – The Driasian Slums

* * *

 _Welcome to Segment two, where the true story begins._

 _Oh, right._ _ **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. I do own a few copies of the games, but that's it. Oh, and this story and its characters.**_

 _With that out of the way, here's something I probably should have mentioned: "Driasia" is pronounced "Dree-ah-see-ah."_

 _Oh, and I'll put all the notes- important and unimportant- up here, since down below, I intend to "setup" this segment. It's mostly a recap of the characters and setting more than anything else… So yeah._

 _ **The following notes fit better on the bottom, but…**_

 _Wow, that was long. Oh, and if I'm not mistaken, I think I'm a little late. I can't exactly keep track of when I update anymore… Lots of work to be doing._

 _Urgh, I had so much fun writing down the part above, listening to noir related stuff. Yes, I'm not as smart as I make my stories look. Hehehe._

 _I think I might make a separate story sometime soon with Russel, Bridget, and Diana… Or characters with similar attitudes and backstories. I've got their backstories planned, and while Diana's doesn't intertwine with anyone else's, its got a very 1950s ~1960s feel to it too. So if you're a fan of that, let me know… And I might get to work on that sooner rather than later._

 _Of course, should that happen, this story will still be my main squeeze 'till I complete it._

 _Without further ado, welcome again to Segment Two of Shadows in War… Where you'll find out at the end how the title makes sense._

* * *

 _Periculum doesn't intend to conquer the world._

 _What do you mean?_

 _They intend to destroy it._

 _How, Tobias?_

 _Think about it. Giratina is a Pokémon who was banished to the distortion world for its violence. According to the legends and myths, the only known Pokémon that can either stop or hold off Giratina are Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia. What do you think a Giratina will do if their only thought is to_ destroy everything _in sight?_

 _True… I doubt that Periculum would target such a powerful deity without knowing the consequences._

 _What does their President intend to gain by destroying the world?_

 _And here's another question: Where did the files from the Power Plant Raid come from?_

 _Well, obviously, it came from our new star team._

 _Yes, but who had the files before they got it?_

…

 _Yes, when I think about it again, it doesn't quite add up._

 _Hm… I don't think those were Periculum's files in the first place._

 _What?_

 _Someone who works against Periculum, but is unknown to us… Who managed to replicate what their own files would look like, and even get accurate information on their outpost layouts, base layouts, schedules, and projects._

* * *

Nathan yawned as he got up and stretched. The Decidueye blinked twice before shaking his head and examining his surroundings.

The owl archer was in a worn out room with a few cracks on the ceilings and walls. He lay on a cot that rested on top of a wooden plank held up by a pair of old chains.

The Grass- and Ghost-type got up and looked at the cot underneath his- empty.

"Samantha's up…"

Nathan exited the room through a wooden door. The inn he found himself in was just as worn down as the room he woke up in.

Downstairs, a few gijinkas were up and about, getting their day started with very cheap coffee and bread. Among them was Samantha, reading a book with a cup of coffee next to her.

The owl archer walked down the stairs and to the Braixen sitting by herself. He then took the seat next to her and peered into the book she read.

"…"

The two exchanged gazes, followed by a pause. Then they started laughing quietly to themselves, before smiling at one another.

"This isn't our first time meeting, smartass." Samantha mused.

"Well, I'm still mildly sleepy and can't think of much else to do."

"Touché."

The Fire mage took a sip out of her cup before bringing the book back up.

"Where are the others?" Nathan asked.

"Angel's already set out to the slums to scout for anyone we might need to look out for, while Oscar and Taryn are still asleep in their room." The Firefox replied.

The Decidueye nodded in reply and continued to read the book alongside her.

"Oh, there you guys are."

The two looked up the stairs to see a Floatzel spearman walking down with his hands in his jacket's pockets.

"I guess Angel's not here?"

"Nope." Samantha replied.

"She should be back in a short time." The Decidueye added.

"Hm. So what are you two doing?" Oscar queried.

"Reading." The archer and mage replied in unison. The lancer shrugged and went to the counter to order some bread.

* * *

Angel looked down at the slums from an abandoned church. Below her were a bunch of shady characters with hidden identities and species- their tails, ears, or other body parts were concealed by thick cloaks and jackets, shades, and hats.

The Driasian Slums seemed just about as filled as Virtue City, albeit with slightly more space to move around in, and a lot less clean. Pokémon were either trying to get by or part of illegal businesses, but not a soul really cared. Not in the slums, anyway.

For them, these illegal activities were a norm of the slums within the otherwise booming center of the nation. It was what the Pokémon did to get by, aside from small-time businesses like shops, eateries, clothes stores, and whatever else could survive in the slums of Driasia.

After some time, Angel got down by falling into a haystack conveniently placed outside by a hooded figure an hour ago. Angel then got out and casually walked back towards the rest of the slums, away from the open area before the church.

" _It hasn't changed a bit._ " The Dark-type thought to herself as she walked past a few children with slightly torn clothes playing.

The Absol sidestepped to dodge a girl wearing a short black dress with orange hair and eyes. The two exchanged glances for just a moment before continuing on their way.

" _There isn't any chance that she's an actual Meloetta... Don't they normally remain in Aria forme? And what would one be doing in a place like this?"  
_ Angel thought.

" _That girl is giving me the creeps._ " The Meloetta thought to herself as she walked towards the church. " _In a much different way from the other one. And it doesn't look like this one is from around here either._ "

* * *

The team of five strolled around the Slums, eavesdropping on conversation that held potentially useful information and looking around the small shops and services scattered throughout.

Currently, the team was browsing the inventory of a small shop selling weapons ranging from swords, daggers, spears, targe, and more.

"I think I might as well get a buckler." Taryn mused.

"Yeah, would be useful in case you can't speed out of the way of an attack." Oscar commented as he took a look at a few spears.

"Hey, you're the Underground Current, aren't you?" The shopkeep, a Roggenrola asked.

"Um, yeah, why?" The Jolteon replied.

"I'm a fan of yours. So you and your buddies here get a thirty percent discount on anything you get around here!" The Rock-type exclaimed.

"You mean it? Thanks, man." The Electric-type replied.

"Well then, let's make use of that." Nathan stated.

"I never thought that would come in handy in situations like this." Samantha remarked.

"Being a dealer has its perks." Taryn said.

Angel simply watched them from a few meters away, minding her own business. Pokémon passed by- from fairly normal looking gijinkas to homeless to shady characters. Everything but richer Pokémon inhabited the Driasian Slums.

The group came back to the Absol with new equipment- Taryn now had a buckler (which was fairly small for one of its kind) slung to her left arm just where the sleeve of her windbreaker jacket ended, Nathan now had a stilleto with a length of 45cm (1.5 feet) hanging loosely from the archer's belt, Samantha had a new small bag around her waist, and Oscar now had a buckler of his own, much like Taryn's, albeit slightly larger.

"Ready to move?" Samantha asked the white gijinka, earning a nod in response.

"Whenever you are."

* * *

The exterior of the large church seemed torn down, giving it a fairly normal appearance for its location. However, inside the building shady characters were all chatting with a tall, cloaked figure stood in front, admitting the gijinkas in.

They were led to a hatch in the wooden floor up front, then led down the stairwell that opened up. This was all done when they were sure that none were peering in from outside.

To ensure that, the windows were all barred up, and a Mandibuzz as well as a Gothitelle sat up high on the second floor and the wooden railings of the building, keeping their eyes on any potential places Pokémon could spy on the inside through cracks in the wall or with psychic power.

The Pokémon all turned to the door to see a Meloetta gijinka walk in. She sighed as she looked around at the hooded figures and the two scouts up high.

The Gothitelle looked down on the Fighting- and Normal-type gijinka, while the Mandibuzz nodded before flying quietly over to a crack in a wall.

The other gijinkas down below waiting to be admitted in were all staring at her either in awe or with want. The hooded figure up front nodded at her, allowing her access to the hatch.

" _Another day._ " The mythical gijinka thought to herself as she headed down the stairs.

She reached a door and knocked on it with a couple of taps from her pointer, then with eight repeated knocks, and finally a tap with her entire palm.

The door opened, revealing a Krookodile gijinka at 6 feet standing guard. The Ground- and Dark-type bowed before the Meloetta before moving out of the way to let her in and close the door behind her.

Inside, the place was slightly cleaner and more decorated than the slums outside. Poles were scattered across a large and wide room, with a number of female gijinkas standing by some of them, while others watched on, threw cash, or chatted quietly keeping their eyes on the girls in the center.

On the right side of the large room from the entrance were booth-like spaces with curtains. Closer towards the entrance was a small bar with a Kirlia gijinka standing there, serving alcoholic beverages to a Sneasel and a Lotad gijinka.

In a small, elevated room was a female Vibrava DJ that glanced at the Meloetta. She smiled at the Mythical for a moment before continuing the moderately low volume music playing throughout the area.

The Meloetta gave a brief smile in return before walking over to a door to the left with a crude drawing of the words "EMPLOYEES ONLY." She entered through the door, ignoring the looks some of the Pokémon gave her.

The Meloetta found other female gijinkas sitting before mirrors and tables holding makeup. She waved hi to some of the girls, who either waved hi back, just stared at her, or didn't notice her at all.

" _I only need to save a little more…_ " The Pirouette Pokémon thought to herself as she walked over to the lockers and began fiddling with a lock.

"D… Y… N… A… F… I… R… E…" The locker unlocked, allowing the Meloetta to open it and check its contents.

She stared at a fairly empty locker for a short while before checking the clock on the wall, reading one-twenty-eight PM. With a sigh, the mythical gijinka walked over to an open doorframe where she found herself behind curtains.

" _Here we go…_ "

* * *

"It doesn't sound like we'll be called back anytime soon." Oscar mumbled.

"So… I guess we just explore." Samantha said.

"Why, you've never been here?" Taryn asked. The Braixen shook her head in reply.

"That's right, Samantha lived practically her entire life in her home village." The owl archer explained.

"Yeah, I only started going around Driasia when I joined the Resistance." The Fire-type mage added.

"Kinda figures with you smarts on that dumb etiquette thing." The Jolteon remarked.

"Hey, it isn't dumb…" The Braixen trailed off. "…Okay, maybe a little. But I guess all of you have been here at least once, right?"

The Decidueye nodded.

"I've been here lots of times." Taryn replied.

"Just a few visits." Oscar stated.

"Hm… I've lived here once." Angel said.

"You actually lived here?" The white gijinka nodded.

"That was a very long time ago." The Dark-type said.

"So, now, do you have a home or anything anywhere?" The Disaster Pokémon gijinka shook her head.

"What should the details matter to you?" The Dark-type replied.

"Heh, kinda makes your name ironic." Oscar remarked. The Absol huffed in reply and began walking down the street, prompting the others to follow her.

" _Something isn't right in this place._ " Angel thought to herself as the group walked down the streets, headed for the main market area. " _It's as if… We've been followed… And whoever it is is still following us._ "

* * *

Meanwhile, up on a taller building, a figure sat on an edge of a pillar.

On her face was a small smile that seemed unnatural for her environment. The girl watched an Absol, Jolteon, Braixen, Floatzel, and Decidueye walk together down the streets, casually chatting with one another, and making very subtle hints of eavesdropping on others' conversations.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The blue girl asked no one in particular. She stood up, revealing her 4'8 height. She stretched once before hopping down to the rooftop silently.

The girl then bounded over to another tall structure where she could keep an eye on the main cast.

" _Hmmm, it looks like they'll end up at…_ " The girl put her pointer to her chin as she cast her gaze to the sky. " _I might as well make this interesting._ "

* * *

The Meloetta gijinka took a handful of Pokédollar bills from a Mr. Mime gijinka giving her a smug grin. The Meloetta didn't betray a single emotion and motioned for the Psychic- and Fairy type to follow her.

The duo went to one of the booths, the Meloetta conscious about the jealous stares of the other males in the club and the other girls seeking ways to keep their attention.

"Sit." The Mime said plainly as he closed the curtains. The Meloetta gijinka sat down on a couch lining the wall of the purple and red booth.

"…Get it over with." The Fighting- and Normal-type stated. The Psychic-type smirked as his eyes began to glow and he looked into the eyes of the girl sitting down.

"Hypnosis." With a snap of his fingers, the Meloetta fell into a trance. Her pupils dilated to a blank, dim orange as she stared down at the table in the center.

With a smug grin, the Barrier Pokémon sat down next to her and began feeling up the girl's legs.

"Oh ho ho, so you are the real thing…" The Mime mused as he slipped his hand up her dress and pulled out the Pokédollar bills he gave her earlier. "I'll be taking this back, thank you." The Mime said.

The Pirouette Pokémon didn't reply and simply sat there, practically lifeless. The Mime waved his hand quickly in front of her face and smiled when she didn't budge.

"Now… I'll make you _mine._ " The Psychic-type mused as he caressed the Meloetta's legs further up. "Moan."

"Oooh~…"

"That's more like it." The Mime stated as his hands reached the top of her legs. His eyes began glowing yellow and black, indicating the move Nasty Plot.

" _Now._ "

The Meloetta's eyes reverted to normal and she instantly landed a Poison Jab right at the Mime's face, sending him back against the wall.

"Ow! You little bitch!" The Psychic-type then waved his hand up to create a Barrier, protecting him from another Poison Jab. "How the hell did you break free from Hypnosis!?"

"We have countermeasures for rulebreakers like you." The Meloetta replied coldly. With a blow from Brick Break, the Barrier broke, allowing her to rush in with a Poison Jab, knocking out the Mr. Mime.

"Dumb asshole." The Meloetta mused as she sent a second Brick Break at the curtains, dispelling the invisible wall that was once there. "You should try making your barrier placements more subtle." She stated before stepping on the fainted Mime's crotch and taking the cash from his side.

The Mime awoke with pathetic sobs as he felt the Meloetta's foot apply more pressure to his crotch area.

"S-Stop…"

"You wouldn't."

The curtains opened to reveal the Krookodile from earlier. The mythical Pokémon backed away and allowed the Dark- and Ground-type to grab the Mime by his neck and give him a smack in the head, knocking him out again.

"You alright?" The Krookodile asked in his gruff voice.

"Yeah… He nearly got me, though." The Krookodile nodded.

"You owe Phoebe one." The Pirouette Pokémon nodded in response and watched the Krookodile leave.

" _That could have gone worse._ " The Meloetta thought to herself as she stepped out of the booth and walked over to the bar, where a couple of Pokémon were chatting about the Mr. Mime being dragged out of the building.

"P, thanks for the save." The Meloetta said as she slumped onto a stool and on the desk. The two males both glanced at her but didn't dare try anything else.

"It was my pleasure, watching you step on his dick like that." The Kirlia, Phoebe, replied. "Given that, you're free to go for the day, D."

"I think I'll have a drink first." The Kirlia nodded and got her a glass of water, which got downed very quickly.

"Thanks…"

"Anytime."

"I'll take off now. Need anything from outside?" The Meloetta asked.

"No thank you. You watch yourself."

"Thanks again, P."

* * *

The Meloetta clumsily stepped out of the church and into the Slums, where she noticed a certain Absol bounded for the market area of the slums.

" _Something about that strikes me as weird._ " The Meloetta flinched and turned with a Brick Break ready at the Pokémon who tapped her shoulder.

"Chill. It's just me." The blue girl said, giving the mythical her relentless smile. The Meloetta sighed and lowered her guard. "But I know where you should save your strength for."

"What are you talking about?" The Pirouette queried.

"The slums market is going to have a lot of problems if you don't go over there to help. I hear they'll give a reward if you manage to save the whole place." The blue girl stated.

"Does it look like I can take down a large number of enemies?" The blue girl deadpanned and facepalmed.

"You're underestimating your own strength, Diana." The girl said. "Besides, you have five powerful allies there. And… You did say you only needed a little more to get a better job, right?"

Diana, the Meloetta, sighed.

"Fine… But if anything goes wrong-"

"I'll show up. Now go."

* * *

A battle was already taking place in the market. Most of the Pokémon stood by their stalls, behind cover, and grouped up, watching the fight between the Resistance team and a heist crew progress.

"Now you're in for it!"

Oscar's Liquidation spear landed a blow to a colorful Muk, staggering the Poison- and Dark-type.

The Floatzel raised his left arm to block a Shadow Punch with his buckler, then backed away to allow Taryn to get a Thunderbolt on the opponent.

"Samantha, dodge left!" Nathan called out before shooting a Spirit Shackle arrow at a Primeape.

The Braixen instantly sidestepped to her left to avoid a Hidden Power from a Yungoos.

Samantha countered by shooting a Flamethrower from her stick at the Normal-type, but the move missed.

The Primeape's Protect failed to keep the Spirit Shackle out of harm's way, as he used the move in succession. In response, he began a Stomping Tantrum, tearing apart the ground he stood on and dealing damage to everything standing next to him.

Angel fired an Ice Beam at the Fighting-type, sending him to the floor.

"How are we doing?" Nathan asked as he ran his stilleto into a Darumaka, sending the attacker back with a shout of pain.

"Getting by." Oscar replied as he used Double Hit to strike down a Scyther.

The Water-type ducked to avoid a series of punches from the Yungoos. Oscar then ran his spear upwards, sending the Yungoos into the air.

The Absol blocked and successfully parried a blow from a Gurdurr's iron beam. However, she had to jump to avoid the Muk's Sludge Bomb.

Taryn struck a Zangoose with her claws and jumped over the enemy to evade a Counter.

The Jolteon rushed in with another hit from her claws before using Agility to speed away from a few rocks thrown by a Geodude.

"Angel, behind you!" Samantha called.

The Absol spun and landed a Night Slash on a Marowak's bone club. The Ground-type parried the hit, however, causing Angel to back away a couple of steps.

Nathan's Razor Leaf pelted the Muk without much damage, but the distraction allowed a certain mage to throw a light tan gem at the opponent.

A Sand Tomb erupted from where the gem landed at the Muk's feet, eliciting a scream of agony from the Poison-type.

"Try again." Angel taunted the Scyther with Double Team. She then let loose another Ice Beam, but missed as the Scyther flew up and rushed in with an X-Scissor, forcing her to roll out of the way and block to avoid a strike from the Bug-type's scimitar.

The owl archer's Foresight allowed Samantha's Psybeam to land a critical hit on the Marowak.

"These guys aren't pushovers." Taryn remarked as her buckler allowed the Jolteon to escape a strike from the Yungoos' mace unscathed.

The Electric-type retaliated with a Stored Power before shooting a Shadow Ball at the Gurdurr, keeping it from landing a swing against Nathan.

Samantha shot a Toxic at the Primeape, but the move was eaten up by the Muk who swallowed the poison with glee, causing his wounds to heal.

"Drat."

"Reinforcements!" Oscar called out to his team. The two sides regrouped- on one side, the Resistance team stood, and on the other, the Pokémon they were fighting plus a Scolipede, Rapidash, Magneton, Luxio, Nosepass, Lickitung, Skunktank, and Snover.

"This won't be easy, but at least we've survived much worse." Nathan remarked.

"Help of our own would make this a lot quicker." Samantha said.

"Hmph, it's not like I mind. I prefer a slow burn anyway." The Disaster Pokémon commented.

"They really think they can fight off a professional heist crew!?" A Mareep gijinka exclaimed.

"I don't know about you, but I think they might just make it out of this alive." A Pansage gijinka commented.

"Maybe if we give them an incentive to win, they'll actually give us back what was taken from us?" A Paras said.

Before anyone else could speak, the Rapidash's blade was up against a swing from Angel. Taryn got in front of Oscar to keep the Water-type from being hit by the Magneton and Luxio's electric-type moves.

Nathan fired as many arrows as he could at the horde of enemies before throwing up a Haze, blinding everyone but his allies thanks to Foresight.

The Braixen shot a Psybeam at the Nosepass through the smoke. Following that, she jumped up to avoid a randomly thrown Twineedle from the Scolipede's two short swords.

"Strength in numbers and skill!?" Oscar exclaimed as his Liquidation spear managed to hit the Yungoos before it could fire an arrow from the bow it held.

"Oscar, duck!" Nathan commanded. The Floatzel got down to the ground, dodging a Flamethrower thrown by the Skunktank.

"Clear the smoke!" The Lickitung yelled as he used Protect to keep a series of punches and scratches from Taryn's clawed gloves from hitting him.

"Cover me!" The Scyther ordered as he flew up higher, out of the smoke.

"Oh, no you don't."

Nathan's Spirit Shackle failed to hit its mark as the Magneton floated in the way to shield the Scyther from the blow.

The Bug- and Flying-type member of the heist crew twirled, sending a breeze throughout the area, blowing away the Haze that just surrounded the battlefield.

Angel took the moment of clarity to strike down the colorful Muk with a critical hit from her blade, knocking down the opponent. She backed away to dodge multiple ranged attacks thrown by a third of the enemy forces.

"Get back up on your feet!" The Snover commanded as she fed the Poison-type a Sitrus Berry.

The berry's effects did wonders on the Muk's injuries, allowing him to roar back and send a Gunk Shot at the Resistance team.

The Nosepass rushed Nathan with an axe, only to be pelted by Razor Leaf.

Oscar's Rock Tomb managed to score a hit on the Scolipede's tail, allowing Taryn to get a Shadow Ball onto the Bug-type before switching to a Thunderbolt against the Skunktank.

However, the Marowak got in the way. His Ground-typing allowed him to absorb the Electric-type move without any harm.

"This will only hurt for a little while." Samantha mumbled as she flung a purple, poisonous cloud bounded for the Snover. The Ice-type repelled it with the aid of the Skunktank and Muk covering him.

Angel jumped to dodge a few quick strikes from the Yungoos, then twirled to avoid an Incinerate attack from the Darumaka.

"Everyone good?" Oscar asked as he rammed his spear twice in succession against the Lickitung.

"Yeah, worry about yourself!" Taryn exclaimed as she and the Zangoose fought one another head on- one with clawed gloves, and the other with real claws ready to cut down those who stood in their path.

"Look out!" Samantha screamed, but for naught as the Jolteon was hit by a pair of large boulders that cut her speed.

"Dammit, we need to take out the Rock-types!" Nathan said as he shot multiple Razor Leaves, only to be blocked by the Scyther and Scolipede's quick sword slashes.

"They each pose an equal threat until we can take one down." Angel commented as she let loose her Ice Beam to the ground, stopping the Primeape in place and rendering the Fighting-type useless.

"I got ya!" The Darumaka yelled as he prepared to fire an Incinerate. However, he was met with a Night Slash critical hit from the Absol's broadsword.

The Decidueye sidestepped to avoid an Ice Punch from the Snover, then ducked to avoid an arrow from the Yungoos.

Following that, the archer turned in time to shoot the Gurdurr coming right at him with a Brutal Swing, nullifying the attack.

But the Snover took the opportunity to draw her arrow on her bow and fire at Samantha. The arrow struck the Braixen, flinching her for just a moment, giving the Muk a chance to land a Shadow Punch.

"Samantha!" Nathan exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Taryn screamed as a Crush Claw managed to send her flying by eight meters. The Lightning Pokémon quickly got up, but found herself weighed down by the effects of the double Rock Tomb from the Geodude and Nosepass earlier.

Oscar covered her from a Bonemerang with the use of Double Hit. The Floatzel gijinka followed with a Water Pulse, sending the Marowak and Rapidash to their knees.

"Catch!" The Snover threw a pair of Sitrus Berries aimed at the Ground-type and Fire-type. Before they could reach their targets, they were shot out by Nathan's arrows.

This, in turn, caused the Decidueye to howl in agony when an Incinerate and a Snarl attack hit him from the side, courtesy of the Darumaka and Skunktank, respectively.

The Disaster Pokémon Angel created Double Team clones to keep the Muk, Scyther, Scolipede, Lickitung, Geodude, and Luxio at bay, allowing her to send a barrage of Shadow Balls in the direction of the targets.

The Lickitung was unharmed due to typing, while the Muk took minimal damage.

On the other hand, the rest of the targets let out pained shouts before shaking off the damage and special defense deductions to spread out and surround the Absol's allies.

"We won't be able to keep this up if we're weakened like this!" The Grass-type archer yelled as he blocked the Darumaka's knife with his stilleto.

In the background, Taryn had to throw special attacks slowly, while Samantha dug her bag for a useful gem. Oscar kept the two covered, but with a lot of trouble as the Magneton's Thunderbolts kept him from dodging any attacks thrown at him.

* * *

" _There it is._ " The blue girl's voice sounded in the Meloetta's head.

"How the hell are you doing that?" The mythical asked as she watched the battle before her from behind the shadows of the crowd and stalls.

" _Telepathy gems. Always come in handy._ " The blue girl replied. " _Hurry up. The Absol, Jolteon, Braixen, Floatzel, and Decidueye are your allies- just try not to attack them, and they'll help you._ " The girl stated.

"Erm, what makes you think they won't see me as a threat? You know them?" Diana queried.

" _In a way. Now hurry, they could use the help._ "

The Meloetta nodded as she felt the psychic link fade away. She looked up to her right in a crack in the roof of the stall she hid under.

There, on a short tower was the blue girl, watching the scene with an apple in her hand. She turned to the Meloetta's location and winked before casting her gaze once more to the battle.

" _I swear, she's more worthy of the title of 'mythical' than me."_ Diana thought to herself before preparing a Brick Break in her hand. " _That guy is open..._ "

* * *

"Agility!"

Taryn regained her speed, but still struggled to keep up with the Scyther trying to escape her claws. Looking back, the Jolteon could see the Marowak taking aim with Bonemerang, prompting her to keep moving.

Back with Samantha, the Braixen unleashed pillars of Dark Pulses from a black gem she dug out of her pouch. This gave the Firefox the opportunity to throw a few Toxics at the opponents.

The Poison-type moves managed to hit the Yungoos, Nosepass, Darumaka, and Snover. However, the Ice- and Grass-type crewmate dug out Pecha Berries for her team to eat.

The Skunktank, Muk, and Scolipede all covered the hit members from Angel's assault, rendering the Fire-type's efforts useless.

Oscar had to figuratively dance to dodge the multiple Thundershocks flying at him from the Magneton, then had to block a Spark attack from the Luxio.

"Hit me!" The Electric-type cat ordered as he kept his attack on the Floatzel active. The Magneton shot a Thundershock at the duo, causing the Water-type to scream in pain while the Luxio charged up from the move.

"Oscar!" Taryn yelled, losing her focus on the Scyther she was chasing. Her momentary pause resulted in a Bonemerang almost smacking her, but the buckler prevented that.

"We need to help him!" Nathan said as he ran his sidearm into the Gurdurr, sending the Fighting-type back.

The Zangoose was about to combine his Crush Claw with the Luxio's Spark to finish off the downed Floatzel lancer. But before the duo could move in, the two were sent flying towards a stall where they lay knocked out by a fast Brick Break.

The Sea Weasel gijinka coughed and looked up to see his deliverer- a girl standing at 5'2, donning a short black dress with orange hair.

"H-Hey, you alright?" The Meloetta gijinka asked as she helped the lancer up to his feet.

"Yeah, thanks for the save… You here to help?" The mythical nodded in response.

"Hang on, I got this guy." The Fighting-type sped behind her and landed a Brick Break onto the Geodude, sending the Rock- and Ground-type flying towards the waiting bronze blade coated in darkness.

The Geodude gasped before slumping down below the Night Slash. The Absol then glanced at the mythical Pokémon for a second before throwing an Ice Beam at the Scyther and rushing the Scolipede with a second Night Slash.

"Motherfucker, is that a real Meloetta!?" The Muk quizzed.

"Real or not, she's going down!" The Rapidash responded.

Cloaking himself and his sword in flames, the Fire-type bounded for the Meloetta.

She bid her time and waited for just the right moment to sidestep and land a Poison Jab against the Flame Charge.

Diana recoiled back from the move, but smirked as the Rapidash fell to the ground in a heap.

"This is actually kinda fun." The Fighting-type mused.

"Watch out!" Diana turned around to see the Lickitung coming at her with his tongue stretching out towards her. However, a Flamethrower burned the Normal-type and sent him to the ground, rolling around screaming as the flames ate away at his health.

Samantha smiled and nodded at the Meloetta before creating a Shock Wave and sending it at the Muk.

"Now we're getting somewhere!" Oscar exclaimed as his Liquidation took out the Nosepass. He then shielded himself from the Gurdurr's Karate Chop using his buckler, before returning fire with Water Pulse.

"Then let's end this now!" Nathan added as his Spirit Shackle took down the Magneton and Marowak, allowing a pair of Shadow Balls from the electric-type eevee and the Dark-type swordswoman took them out.

"I got your back!" Diana said as her Acrobatics struck down the Scolipede about to hit Nathan with a Twineedle. A Psybeam from Samantha finished off the Poison- and Bug-type.

Following that, Angel's Night Slash landed the critical hits needed to take out the heist crew's archers of Yungoos and Snover. The Absol then vanished into a Double Team to dodge the Muk and Gurdurr's Drain Punch attacks.

In turn, arrows, Stored Power, Flamethrower, and Water Pulse all struck the two down before they could move out of the way.

"Damn all of you!" The Scyther yelled as he charged Angel with an X-Scissor. The Darumaka and Skunktank covered the Bug-type with a twin Fire-attack against the rest of the crew.

Oscar's Water Pulse nullified the move before everyone's eyes, allowing Diana and Taryn to rush the two with Brick Break and a pair of claws.

The series of attacks did the trick. Diana then sent the Skunktank flying with a roundhouse kick while Taryn moved out of the way with Agility to allow Oscar's Liquidation spear to send the Darumaka flying.

The group all exchanged glances then turned to the last opponent on the field- the Scyther gijinka.

…Only to find it knocked down by a Night Slash.

"That's all of them." Angel stated, as the crowd began to walk forward, some carrying the defeated opponents to the middle.

"Hey, thanks for your help." Nathan said.

"Yeah, we really appreciated that." Taryn added. Diana smiled and scratched the back of her head before bowing formally.

"It was my pleasure." The Meloetta replied. "You guys looked like you needed the help."

"Oi!" The group, including the mythical, turned to a Sableye walking up to them. "That was some dastardly nice fighting out there." The Ghost- and Dark-type said. "I never would have thought one with a job like yours would go out of your way to pull off a stunt like this, no?"

Diana bit her lip and shrugged nervously.

"Well anyway, here's a gift from all of us for savin' the market around here. You go spend it on whatever you want." The shorter Pokémon gave the group a few small bags that when shook, sounded of coins rattling inside.

"Sweet, thanks."

"No, laddie, thank ye."

The Darkness Pokémon walked back into the crowd to a stall, while the other members of the crowd looted the defeated heist crew before turning them over to a Dodrio and Bewear accompanied by a few Bunnelby, Taillow, and Aipom.

"Whoo. Thanks again for the help back there." Oscar said.

"Oh, it was no problem." Diana replied.

"Here, you should take more of this stuff." Samantha said as she gave half her groups bags to the Meloetta, who took them with surprise into her telekinesis."

"Wha- why?"

"What we have with us right now is enough for all of us." Nathan remarked. Each of the Resistance team had one bag of their own while the Meloetta had four with her.

"And besides, it's kinda all we can give for helping us out back there." The Jolteon stated.

"I—wow… Thanks a bunch." The Pirouette gijinka responded. "It's not everyday you find a group like you guys."

"Well, it isn't everyday you see a Meloetta pulling off stunts like this." The Sea Weasel Pokémon replied.

Diana giggled in response and nodded.

"True that."

"Say, what's a Pokémon like you doing around here anyway?" Samantha queried.

"Iiiiiiiii kinda live here." The Pirouette replied. "Even though I'm a legit Meloetta, I'm not exactly the lucky type of Pokémon like the guys up in the City."

"Really? That's quite odd." The owl archer remarked.

The crowd began to thin out slightly as the Slums returned to normal very quickly, leaving an unlikely group of unique looking Pokémon standing in the center of the slums.

"I guess you guys can go back to whatever you were doing before this." Diana stated as she turned to walk away. "That was some nice fighting, by the way. Thanks for putting up a show."

"Just doing what we do best, right gang?" Oscar asked, gaining three verbal confirmations and a nod from the Dark-type mercenary.

Diana chuckled to herself lightly as she left for the streets.

" _They're a fun bunch of Pokémon._ " The Pirouette thought as she walked down the streets, ignorant of the few Pokémon staring at her with wonder or want.

" _See why I asked you to do this?_ " The blue girl's voice echoed in Diana's head, not surprising the Meloetta any longer. The Mythical Pokémon gijinka nodded, knowing she was probably being watched by the girl in question.

" _Yeah, I'll admit it was quite fun._ " Diana stated in her mind.

" _If any other interesting things come up, try joining them if you think you'll be able to handle it. You get to do more things like this._ "

" _Noted. What will you do now, keep stalking me?_ " The Meloetta asked with a silent laugh.

The blue girl's voice giggled in the mythical gijinka's head before letting out an amused sigh.

" _No, I intend to stalk the group you just worked with._ "

" _Then you'll do the same thing to them you did to me, huh?_ "

" _Again, no. Well, not exactly, anyway. You might be seeing them again soon, actually._ "

" _I get the feeling that's going to come true._ " Diana thought before the telepathic communication ended. As she felt the link sever, the Fighting- and Normal-type gijinka let out an exhausted sigh.

After an hour's walk, the gijinka made it to a small, run down apartment complex. The Meloetta looked up the building before walking into it and closing the door behind her.

* * *

"You getting the feeling we're being followed?" Taryn asked.

"To a certain extent." Nathan replied.

"Yeah, it DOES kinda feel like somebody's tailing us." Samantha added.

"Then don't talk about it." Angel stated. "Keep your guard up, but pretend otherwise."

"Huh, makes sense…" Oscar remarked as he examined his spear as the team walked down the streets.

The group carried on aimlessly through the slums, sensing for anything out of the ordinary for the slums. The foreboding feeling continued to follow them, even when the sun began to set and the darker and much more illegal businesses began opening for the night.

"Okay, this is getting stupid." The Braixen remarked.

"Turn around, then." The group instantly turned with their guards up, only to find a fairly young yet odd girl standing before them, looking innocent and harmless.

She stood at a short 4'8. Her black hair was in a hime cut, except that her hair was much longer to her right side, where the hair fell all the way to just above her waistline. The girl donned a fairly simple dull blue dress that went down to her knees. Her eyes were as black as her hair, and she had a clean appearance about her, uncharacteristic for their location. Down below were a pair of sneakers with the same shade of blue as her dress. Despite her simple appearance, the girl herself was quite pretty- almost like a doll.

A small smile was plastered on the girl's lips, one that seemed just as unnatural as her appearance was in the area. Aside from that, no noticeable Pokémon features were visible on the girl at all, making her species completely unknown.

"Don't worry about fighting. I'm not up for it right now." The girl said.

"Why have you been following us for the entire day?" Angel queried as she held her broadsword's grip in her hand.

"Hmm, you don't see a group like yours passing by a place like this everyday, let alone renting an expensive-by-slum-standards-inn. To put it simply, you seemed quite interesting. Especially after fighting off a heist crew and fighting alongside a mythical Pokémon too." The girl exaplained.

"So… You're just following us because we look cool?" Oscar asked as he lowered his guard slightly.

"Kiiiiiinda." The girl replied. "I really don't mean any harm, and I'm not exactly in a mood to do any battle. And to be entirely honest, I only showed myself since I found it funny that you're finding this stupid now."

"Hey…"

"Chill. So let me guess… Resistance?" The girl asked. "Forget I asked. The emblems make it obvious, but what are you doing around here?"

"We could ask the same of you." Nathan responded calmly. "You don't seem like you belong here."

"Good point, mister Shaw…" The girl replied.

"Hang on, how do you know his name?" Samantha asked warily.

"Records in Virtue City. I have a friend who showed me some things I was interested in… And made quite a grand show in obtaining it." The blue girl stated. "Now this isn't an appropriate place to be chatting calmly- and given that the inn you rented last night is full, you'll need to find a new place to sleep."

"Wait, how do you know it's full?"

"You ask a lot of questions. We passed nearby it, and I took the opportunity to check. They're booked out with some of the homeless gijinkas just sitting outside." The girl replied.

"Darn. I don't think I'd want to see that." The Sea Weasel gijinka Oscar said.

"Fortunately for you, I think I might know a place you can stay for the night. Well, together, anyway."

"Yeah? Show us." Taryn replied. The girl giggled and motioned for the crew to follow her.

"Hang on, we never got your name…"

"In due time."

* * *

The group now found themselves standing in front of a small, run down apartment complex looking like it hasn't been used in years.

"Er…"

"If I was tricking you, you'd probably have killed me already." The blue girl stated. "I'm sure our little housekeeper will let us in. She does owe me, after all."

"Well, isn't that reassuring." Samantha mumbled.

"It's much more reassuring than any other Pokémon you'd find around these parts." The blue girl replied before opening the door and leading the Resistance team inside.

The interior was just as abandoned as the exterior appeared. Dust coated every corner of what may have once been the lobby and reception desk. Cobwebs decorated the corners of the lobby and in crevices where only very, very small Pokémon could fit through. No sign or trace of life existed in the room, and the overall atmosphere was one that told the main cast to back out of there.

"Okay… Is this part of your plan?" Nathan queried.

"She keeps it this way to keep out uninvited guests like us." The blue girl stated as she walked towards a wooden staircase up ahead silently. "Follow, follow."

The group stepped across the creaking wooden floor, all wary of their surroundings. Nathan motioned to the group that it was oddly clear, after using Foresight behind the other girl's back.

"We're here. And that was smart thinking with the Foresight, archer."

"…I don't think I'll pay you mind anymore…" Nathan replied, to the girl's amusement.

"How can you prove to us we're in the right place?" Angel asked.

Now, the group was walking down a hallway. Each footstep they made caused creaking noises, albeit not as loud as normal, while the blue girl's footsteps were completely silent- as if she was floating.

"Oh, that's because…" The girl cleared her throat before casually opening a strangely clean red door that didn't fit in right with the rest of the building. "An acquaintance you met today lives here."

A figure stepped into view from a blind spot which was the wall, looking mainly at the blue girl with annoyance.

"What do you want now?" Diana asked.

"Look behind me." The blue girl responded. The Meloetta did as told and perked up when she saw five familiar faces.

"You guys? What's going on here?"

"They need a place to stay for the time being. Would you mind?" The girl asked in a classical style.

Diana paused for a moment before looking at the group.

"Can you trust them with-"

"Yes." The girl said seriously as her smile faded out for just a moment before returning to its usual place. "Now, what do you say?"

"Come in."

* * *

 _As I said above, here is the setting up for segment two. Just some data to get you started._

 _Shadows in War: Segment Two. The story truly begins here._

 _ **Things to expect**_ _: More character backstories, more info regarding the four projects of Periculum- S, F, T, and L (Shadow, Fate, Type, Legend), characters growing (both in terms of power, capability, and level as well as personality), universe mechanics, and the segment where the summary and title begins to make sense towards the end._

 _ **A Quick Summary of Segment One**_ _: The introduction to the story itself- details are in Periculum's files and Angel's experiences. The Resistance now has control over one of the Periculum bases, where they are extracting as much information and data as possible- the rest of the Resistance are either in the mountainous regions and locations across Driasia or going about their usual business, posing as regular Pokémon.  
_

 _ **The Solar Division**_ _: A Resistance Elite Team consisting of three Grass-type Pokémon- a Sceptile swordsman, a Tropius "berserker," and a Bellossom spamming statuses. Known for fighting off an entire Periculum battalion during a sunny day._

 _ **The Aquatic Shroud**_ _: A Resistance Elite Team consisting of four Water-type Pokémon- a Vaporeon, Gorebyss, Wailord, and Swampert. Because that Ground- Water- typing is OP. Also, Gorebyss needs more attention._

 ** _A Poor Explanation for Driasia's Map:_** _So, I'm terrible at explaining things. Trust me, I know, and if anyone would like to rephrase this stuff, do be my guest. This is how I imagine Driasia to look like for now- as the details are not yet done. This is just here to give you readers an idea of the land.  
_

 _I can't describe the shape of the land mass itself... So I'll go down to the portions of the map. Namely, these are: **Center, North, South, East, West,** and the places in between (i.e. northeast, southwest)_

 _Center Region: Contains one of the major cities of the country, Virtue City. Also contains a large amount of towns and villages, as well as the infamous Slums._

 _Northern Region: A vast desert extends across the northern boundary of the nation. Below lies a few towns, and a forest going towards the Center._

 _Northeastern Region: A mostly mountainous region with a city and three towns opposite the corner border of the country._

 _Northwestern Region: Region containing the largest amount of water, as a third of it is the ocean itself. Numerous seaside towns dot the coastline, while a pair of cities can be found here, as well as plentiful forests of different kinds._

 _Western Region: Much like the Northeaster region, but with less water, more grasslands and forests, and a hill area towards the center. Runswick is nearby said hill area, and a few other towns are found here._

 _Southwestern Region: 68% of the region is blanketed with snow. Two mountains- one extending far across the region, and one passing through clouds- reside here. In the remaining 32% of the region, a city surrounded by two towns, a set of well-known waterfalls, and an ancient ruin are here._

 _Southern Region: Contains a mountain just off the coast. The area here is populated with villages and towns, and only one city._

 _Southeastern Region: The area here is primarily mountains, valleys, hills, and the like. The water here is very fresh._

 _Eastern Region: Has a volcano at the very western border, which for the time being is inactive. The region itself is more of a cross between the Center and the South. Four cities can be found here._

 ** _(I UPDATED THE REGIONS- APPARENTLY, I GOT EAST AND WEST MIXED UP... AGAIN 8-12-2017)_**

 _ **A Character Reminder**_ _: The main cast are all average 21 years old, but their exact age is up to your imagination until I choose to reveal that data later. The Resistance leaders are varying, while the other characters average about 22 ~ 30ish.  
_

 _Also, this list will include every character who made an appearance in segment one. They'll be heard from more here in this segment._

 _Angel – F Absol, 5'6. Main cast. Night Slash, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Double Team._

 _Taryn Bailey – F Jolteon, 5'2. Main cast. Thunderbolt, Agility, Shadow Ball, Stored Power._

 _-Yes, I know in a previous chapter, I listed everyone's height, I thought I'd change Taryn's. I'll update that chapter later when I'm not too lazy or busy. lol_

 _Oscar Trevin – M Floatzel, 5'5. Main cast. Liquidation*, Double Hit, Water Pulse, Rock Tomb._

 _Samantha Autumn – F Braixen, 5'1. Main cast. Flamethrower, Psybeam, Shock Wave, Toxic._

 _Nathan Shaw – M Decidueye, 5'8. Main cast. Spirit Shackle, Haze, Razor Leaf, Foresight._

 _Cpt. Audrey – F Durant, 3'7. Resistance leader._

 _Lady Claire – F Glaceon, 5'9. Resistance leader._

 _Gen. Ethan – M Golisopod, 6'2, Resistance leader. Sludge Bomb, Focus Blast, Sucker Punch, Razor Shell._

 _Matt – M Meowstic, 5'3. Resistance._

 _Ajax – M Infernape, 5'5. Resistance._

 _Master Tobias – M Flygon, 5'6. Resistance leader._

 _Edmund Spencer – M Sceptile, 5'8. Solar Division. Leaf Blade, Energy Ball, Focus Blast, Detect, Iron Tail._

 _Delbert Morris – M Tropius, 6'4. Solar Divison._

 _Amanda May – F Bellossom, 5'1. Solar Division._

 _Bridget Cunningham – F Lopunny, 5'7. Virtue City Detective Aide. High Jump Kick, Ice Punch, Sky Uppercut, Double Hit._

 _Russel Hawkins – M Lucario, 5'9. Virtue City Detective. Force Palm, Quick Attack._

 _Cindy Dixon – F Cinccino, 5'8. Virtue City pop-star._

 _Duke Frank – M Flareon, 5'6. Resistance leader._

 _Sir Sebastian – M Noctowl, 5'3. Resistance leader._

 _Lord Zain – M Noivern, 6'0. Resistance leader._

 _M Honchkrow, 5'7._

 _Benjamin Rayan S. Varim – M Glaceon*, 4'8. My little brother's. Ice Beam._

 _Sarah Emily A. Rose – F Fennekin, 4'7. My Little brother's. Flamethrower._

 _Vivian Davina – F Gorebyss, 5'5. Aquatic Shroud. Hydro Pump, Signal Beam, Psychic, Icy Wind, Barrier._

 _Austyn Regis – M Vaporeon, 5'4. Aquatic Shroud. Acid Armor, Surf, Iron Tail, Aurora Beam, Double Team._

 _Diana Arilinia – F Meloetta, 5'2. Spoilers if I wrote it here now… Acrobatics, Poison Jab, Brick Break._

 _F, 4'8.  
_

 _Hope this helps your imagination. This is Shade, out._


	15. C15 - Music to the Ear

Shadows in War, Chapter Fifteen, Segment Two – Music to the Ear

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, nor have I anything to do with it. Usual stuff.**_

 _I've had a horrible week. I don't want to talk about it… And I want to find a way out of the mess I'm in._

 _I shouldn't be making that such a big deal. Anyway, I can't finish this chapter for realsies, so I'll just upload what I've completed so far and alter the last bit a little so that it fits with the ending._

 _I suppose now, I'll get to re-writing Shadows in War. I'll see you in Chapter three._

* * *

"Ah… I see where you took inspiration." The blue girl's entranced voice mused.

The Meloetta didn't reply and walked over to the center of the wooden room.

The couch was in a U-shape, with the open part pointing towards the door where the main cast stood. Surrounded within was a small coffee table with a stereo playing a quiet jazz, while a small table rested itself a couple of feet from the coffee table. The table held up a small TV, slightly worn out but still showing signs that it was taken care of.

To the right wall of the room was an office-like setup. A small desk contained a computer on the right-hand corner, while a printer and a small lamp were on the left. The center was empty for the most part, save for a couple of papers.

To the left of where the couch faced or to the right of the office setup was a wooden kitchen counter with a fridge to the very left end. A blender sat between the fridge and the sink, while to the right hand side of the counter was a microwave. Cabinets of wood planted themselves just above the kitchen counter.

On the left side of the room (to the right of the couch) , a dark red canopy bed nestled itself next to the wall, just a few feet away from a heavy-looking oak door. East of the door was an empty washing machine.

Diana shut off the stereo before walking towards the west-hand door and glancing back at her uninvited guests.

"Go ahead and make yourselves at home, I guess… I'll figure out some way for you to sleep here." The Pirouette Pokémon said as she closed the door behind her.

"Well, you heard her…" The blue girl stated. "If you're all comfy with the couch, I think that might be Diana's idea."

"Diana? You mean the Meloetta?" Nathan queried, earning a nod from the blue girl.

"And I guess you don't intend on sleeping with this kind of setup, huh?" The blue girl turned to the Dark-type mercenary.

"Hm…"

"Eh, don't worry. I've got a remedy for that." The blue girl stated as she began walking to the door.

"Hey, hang on, we never got your name." Samantha said. The girl in the blue dress came to a halt and slowly turned around, giving the team her neverending smile.

"Hm… You can call me… Azul."

* * *

"How are we doing so far?"

Tobias impatiently (but casually) tapped his foot repeatedly on the metal floor of his headquarters in Center HQ. Benjamin and Sarah were lounging around on some of the chairs, while a certain Meowstic, Durant, and Infernape were hard at work on a mass of data streaming onto the computers.

" _We're doing well so far._ " Appeared on the largest of the screens in the middle of the wall of computers.

"Urgh… This de-crypting stuff is hard. You sure we couldn't at least call Taryn over?" The Resistance Captain, Audrey, questioned.

"No can do, Dree." The Flygon replied. "Something about how unguarded that base was strikes me as odd."

"True, for it to be one of their primary bases, it must be very well defended and loaded with shadow Pokémon." Ajax the Infernape stated. "Sure, this 'Mirsinus' character was extremely strong, but I like to think that a base should have more."

A resounding ding caught everyone's attention, and they all looked to the large monitor.

" _I found something that can relate: Project F, as of now, has nineteen different Pokémon- one for each type. This info was updated just a few days ago, shortly after the defeat of their fleet._ " Matt typed onto the keyboard, causing the words to appear for all to read.

"Nineteen… And we've only taken down two…" Audrey mused as her antennae wiggled slightly. "That scares me. Ethan almost got killed even with half the Aquatic Shroud, our stars, and a handful of soldiers."

"Now that sounds interesting. Keep going, let's see what we can find."

A few boring hours had passed- occasionally, one of the Resistance leaders or Ajax would read off a letter or any spicy bits of information they found. Benjamin and Sarah pointed out at a few things the other four missed, a few calls from the other leaders came in every so often, and the Mystic leader of the Resistance would call for bread, water, chips, soda, and even a bottle of wine.

"Claire would so freeze me to death for drinking one of these now." Tobias mused as he took a light sip from his wine glass.

"Yeah, she definitely would." Audrey replied with a bit of snark in her tone.

 _ **[Snarky: Sharply critical, cutting, or snide, especially of a person's words or mood. Imagine Vernaculis.]**_

"Have you accessed the files the two of us obtained in the base?" Sarah quizzed the Resistance Pokémon.

"Which ones are they?" Ajax asked back.

"Those ones." Sarah pointed at a section of the big screen and walked towards it for more accuracy.

"Well now… What do we have here?" Tobias mused as he walked over to a free keyboard and began searching the folders there, aided by Matt while Audrey and Ajax continued looking through the rest of the files.

* * *

"Anyone up for pizza?"

"Where the hell did you get that?" Diana queried as she brushed her hair into its usual updo for Pirouette form Meloetta.

"Just luck, I guess. And some convincing." Azul replied as she set down a couple of boxes of pizza- one with pepperoni and one with plenty of meat and extra bacon. "Dig in, I've already gotten my own treats."

"Thanks, Azul… But why are you helping us?" Oscar asked.

"Hm, in a good mood, you could say. Don't really know." The girl dressed in blue responded.

"And what species are you?" Taryn followed.

"Hmm… If I told anyone else, it wouldn't be a secret, now would it?" Azul replied with a giggle before walking over to the computer. "Mind if I borrow this?"

"Sure, whatever." Diana replied as she took a slice of pepperoni pizza and bit into it.

"Sweet." The blue girl typed away at the keyboard, which undid the lock.

"You're… Wait, do you know her password or something?" Samantha asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised, given that she has the brain of Arceus…" The Meloetta stated.

"No, I just hacked the thing open." Azul answered. "Oh, and D, don't worry about viruses or anything. I just opened the thing."

"…You probably shouldn't be doing that all the time."

"I do do it all the time."

A sigh escaped the mythical Pokémon's lips before she finished her first slice, all while Oscar and Nathan stuffed themselves silent with the meat lovers pizza.

"Hey, Angel, you having any?" Taryn asked and offered the mercenary a slice.

"No." The Dark-type simply responded.

"Hey, here's an article." Azul said. "If the governor of the Blizzard City had his way, he'd ban pineapples on pizza."

The reactions were priceless. Nathan froze in time upon hearing that while Oscar choked momentarily on his food. The Jolteon, Braixen, and Meloetta all gave their expressions of shock while Angel simply stared down the blue girl.

"No kidding, try searching it up." Azul continued. "I don't know why this needs to be mainstreamed by the old media, but it sure did make my day more than it already was."

"…You're weird."

"You are."

"Hey, Azul… Just for curiosity's sake, what were you doing before you found us?" Diana asked.

"You only met her recently too?" Nathan queried, earning a nod from the Fighting-type.

"Just yesterday, helped me out when a bunch of drunk assholes at a bar decided to try raping us both." The Meloetta explained.

"Yeesh, that sounds like shit." The yellow gijinka remarked before eating more pizza.

"Well, they're easy to get past with or without smoke bombs." Azul commented. "To answer your question, I've been messing with a certain superpower recently."

"Okay, you've pulled off a lot of weird things so far, but I find that hard to believe." The Pirouette Pokémon gijinka responded.

"I mean the superpower that these guys raided a day ago." Azul added.

"You mean Periculum?" Taryn asked.

"Hang on, how do you know that?" The Fire-type added.

"I have my sources." Azul stated. "Big bad boogeyman doesn't know about you guys yet, though. So no need to worry about them setting bounties on your heads and your friends in the underground, underwater, sky, and undercover bases turning on you."

"…Are you part of the Resistance?" The Floatzel lancer quizzed.

"No, I'm not for either and I'm not exactly against either." Azul replied. "I just thought it would be funny to send a good four-fifths of their forces to the rest of the nation so you guys wouldn't end up dying in there."

"You what now?"

"You have the right not to believe me, but it's what I would call the truth." Azul replied with a sweet smile… That hid (in this case however, clearly showed) the level of evil trolling she could manage. "Posed as a really, _really_ high official and told them off. Thought you guys would notice if most of them left, but it doesn't seem that way, according to your General and the two sailors."

"How in the hell do you pull that off?" Oscar asked before stuffing an entire slice of meat lovers in his mouth.

"Just luck, I guess~" Azul replied as she typed away at Diana's keyboard.

"How much do you know about us?" Nathan asked as the air around them grew with tension.

"Hm… Not a lot." Azul replied with a giggle. "What I know is what I know. What you know is also what you know, so let's leave it at that."

"Hmph… Fine, then."

"Good. Now… Have the five of you thought about what you're going to be doing around here? I don't exactly think it would be very cool to be staying here for very long." Azul turned her gaze to Diana as she spoke, looking in the Pirouette gijinka's serious eyes.

"This room…" The Meloetta mused.

"We're very sorry to intrude, but the idea was hers-" Nathan was cut off by the mythical speaking.

"No, it's fine. I mean, you can stay here… I don't mind… It's just…" The Fighting- and Normal-type held her left arm with her right hand and looked around. "…It's just painful memories resurface, that's all."

"Oh…"

"So that's why…"

"But… It's OK, really. Just don't break anything." Diana stated.

"…Back to the topic." Azul followed, earning a nod from the Meloetta. "What will you Resistance lot do here in the Slums? Going around for a pleasant walk everyday and foraging for resources doesn't sound very pleasant here, and the more underground-ish gijinkas around here will think you're suspicious."

"You have a point there." Taryn said thoughtfully. "Normally, Pokémon who're snooping around do that. Drifters don't walk around as much and don't stay very long here."

"Wouldn't be fun if people started looking for us."

"It wouldn't be easy for them to find anyone who hides here." Diana stated, gaining a bunch of confused looks from the Resistance team save the mercenary-for-hire. "Um, it's a perk of being a Mythical Pokémon… We can hide certain things in plain sight. Gijinkas will pass by this building but never think to enter it or explore it… And if some Psychic- or Ghost-type comes along and enters the building, they won't think much of it and just leave."

"Like I said earlier- she does it to keep out uninvited guests like yours truly." The girl in the short blue dress said.

"Then again, hiding here until we're called back to base doesn't help much either." The Firefox said.

"Huh… Maybe we can find some work around here?" The Sea Weasel gijinka suggested.

"What do you mean?" The Jolteon Taryn asked.

"Take up some odd jobs or something." The Floatzel replied. Angel raised a brow and looked away for a moment.

" _Perhaps… A visit wouldn't be so unpleasant._ " The Absol thought to herself. " _If they can't find anything to do… We'll just cover up with_ them."

"Hey, Azul, anything coming to mind?" Oscar asked.

"You're on your own with that one." The girl replied as she casually clicked on a few commands on the computer.

"What are you doing anyway?"

"Answering troll surveys." Azul responded. "You probably wouldn't understand the oppressed ethnicity." The girl added with a laugh.

"Would probably be a lot easier if you told us what you were." Nathan remarked.

"Yeah, but that would be boring, and besides- species doesn't have to do with being labeled as a fascist."

" _Fascist?_ " Angel thought as she looked to Azul.

"Now I'm even more confused." The orange Water-type said.

"Told ya you wouldn't understand." The blue-dressed girl replied.

"So, Azul… You brought these guys over here so they wouldn't get robbed, killed, or kidnapped by the idiots around here. What about you?" Diana queried. "I'm pretty sure you have a place for yourself around here, since you can keep in close proximity all the time…"

"Oh, that. Yeah, I won't be staying here for much longer. Just keeping an eye on your little meeting."

The six Pokémon gijinkas all stared at the unidentified fucking organism.

"…You mean to tell us you were planning to have us meet up like this?" Samantha asked.

"Hm, maybe so, maybe not."

"You're an asshole." All three girls stated plainly, causing Azul to laugh her hand off.

The blue girl picked up the skin-like glove and placed it back on her hand, causing it to vanish entirely.

"Why the hell do you need that?" Nathan asked.

"Because reasons, Mister Shaw. Because reasons." The blue girl replied.

"At least give us a hint to your sources, because that is just OP and creepy." Oscar remarked.

" _He has a good point._ " Angel thought. " _If an individual like herself can appear anonymous in person and have access to whatever information she would want without being a very powerful Psychic-type, she could be a very great threat to anyone alive._ "

Azul looked to Angel with a thoughtful expression while keeping the neverending smile, before winking at the mercenary.

" _No… It's not possible._ "

"Maybe it is, battle star." Azul stated out of the blue.

"That goes completely off topic, and where did that come from?" Oscar quizzed.

"I think she's just crazy and doesn't actually know anything." Taryn commented, much to the blue girl's amusement.

" _How… Hypnosis can affect Dark-types, but… I haven't felt anything of the sort since I've met her._ " The Absol thought.

The group around continued to chat, deciding it was better to just enjoy themselves rather than focus on the strangeness of their mutual "friend."

" _Still, if she can hear what I'm thinking… Would she know…?_ "

* * *

 _To: PM and SF_

 _We've sent out seven of our best people armed to the teeth with our finest weaponry and a Phantasmal Beacon for each to deal with the Resistance fooling around in the Excavation and Research Missions, as well as to assist our troops and scientists in the cave who lack your support, Subject F._

 _While six of them are to cause commotion in the settlements nearby to lure away the Resistance from our digging, the seventh of them- holding the Phantasmal Beacon for Rider of the Demons- is hunting down whoever it is that our troops in the East, Center, and the Desert Outpost in the North are all worried about._

 _That will conclude this letter—_

"Yadda yadda…" Tobias mused to himself unamusedly. "Still, they've sent a Project F Pokémon to _hunt_ down our star team."

"As much as their power is extraordinary, the project itself is still fairly new, so whatever they're up against should be something they can manage, right?" Ajax queried. Audrey, Matt, Benjamin, and Sarah all looked to the Master of the Resistance.

"No." The Flygon simply replied. "The Electivire Berserker they fought on the big-ass ship was only one of the latest members of Project F. Mirsinus of Stone's beacon was inactive, which made him more aggressive, but less efficient without a professional to control him." The Mystic Pokémon explained. "And it doesn't sound like this next one is a newer one either. The Project itself has been up and running for about a year now, so I'm expecting something that will probably kill them."

"T-Then we need to warn them immediately!" Audrey exclaimed.

" _That would be unwise._ " The words appeared on the central screen of the massive computer network, courtesy of the mute Psychic-type in the room. " _They're hiding in the Slums. The chances of them being found are very low already, and that value can only get smaller if they split up and keep their heads down._ "

"Matt has a point." Ajax stated. "It would be nice to find some way to warn them right now, but that risks their cover. Anything could happen in that place."

"Hm. Then we'll go." Benjamin stated.

"...If you're really sure about doing this just to keep their tails safe, then nobody's stopping you. You'll set out in seven hours, by sunrise. You need to be there before the sun becomes fully uncovered from all angles." The Ground- and Dragon-type explained.

"What's with that?" Sarah questioned.

"I've had my fair share of visits to that place." Tobias stated. "It'll help for a pair like you two. Trust me."

"Then I'll leave the planning to you."

* * *

"Diana Arilinia- that's your full name?" Samantha queried.

"Yes, indeedy, that's my full name… Ringing any bells?" The Meloetta nervously asked.

"No, can't say any of us know the name." Nathan replied. The Mythical Pokémon internally sighed in relief.

"Then never mind that. So your names are… Taryn Bailey, the Jolteon; Samantha Autumn, the Braixen; Nathan Shaw, the Decidueye; Oscar Trevin, the Floatzel; and Angel, the Absol?" Diana asked.

"Yep, you got it right." Taryn replied.

"So, why doesn't she have a last name?" The Fighting- and Normal-type quizzed, pointing to the Absol mercenary standing by the kitchen counter.

"We don't know. It's the only name anyone uses for her." Nathan responded.

"You can try prying her for that, but she won't tell you." The Firefox added.

"Angel, huh… I think I might have heard that name once before." The Pirouette gijinka mused.

"You have?" The Water-type lancer questioned.

"Yeah… A mercenary of sorts."

"You're on point there." The owl archer commented.

"She was hired by our buddies up high in the Resistance, and after her contract was over, she decided to stick around for a bit longer." The Lightning Pokémon said.

The Dark-type who was the topic of the conversation glanced at her allies- then looked out the window on the Slums below.

The interior of the room would make one think they were in Virtue City during the 70s, but the exterior of the building told otherwise.

Down below was the street the team trekked earlier. Shadier Pokémon were openly doing their business in the night lit by orange lanterns and light bulbs.

In the Driasian Slums at night, not a soul would mind a scream. They would ignore it and walk by. At night, not a soul would panic in a fight- everyone would pull their weapons up or prepare a move, and be ready to defend themselves or run.

In the Driasian Slums, not a single soul cared.

" _They haven't changed a bit._ " The Disaster Pokémon thought to herself. The Absol watched the scene blankly, ignoring the conversation behind her.

* * *

 _Well, this is it for now. Hope you're enjoying the story so far, but I guess it wouldn't be unreasonable for you not to. It's a given that stress has brought about a little damage to my cognitive functions, and I'm making typos more often. I'm not exactly myself, so to speak._

 _Chapter Sixteen, once the editing and revising of Segment one is done, will feature some action for those who are looking for it. I'll try to step up my game like I promised… But until I can fully re-write Segment one, there won't be much progress._

 _I mentioned earlier that I'll see you again in Chapter three. I intend to re-write the first three, upload, then make an update chapter so it goes to your notifications. Repeat process until I'm done, that's the idea._

 _I'll try to make it quick, even with all the work being placed upon me. Wish me luck, I guess? I'll post an update next Friday so you know I'm not dead, tho, assuming tomorrow or next week's exams don't kill me. :P  
_

* * *

"Okay… It seems they're getting along."

A girl dressed in a simple dull blue dress stood off a throne of stone and walked to the cavern exit to gaze up at the starless midnight sky.

"Six down, one to go." The blue girl thought to herself. "It's much too early, and preparing far ahead of time isn't exactly my thing." The girl mumbled to nobody.

"Periculum's on the move… It seems that my little sailor has gone off to see my interesting group of friends as well." Azul stated as she put down a small black stone into her dress' pocket.

"Now… It seems like _**he**_ 's running out of time for this…" Azul sighed. "I suppose I'll just have to compensate for all this… Geez." The blue girl facepalmed herself lightly as she took out a small whitish pink gem and tightened her grip on it, only to loosen it the millisecond after.

The gem displayed a virtual image before the blue girl's face, lighting her features up dimly in the empty field.

Azul's smile wasn't there, and instead, an annoyed expression was on her face.

"You really need to find another way around all this. Getting jaded, pissed, or depressed isn't helping anyone, particularly you." Azul sighed.

"Now… Why don't I continue my little game?" The girl snapped her fingers as a gem popped out of her bag, colored in pink, white, and a bluish purple.

In an instant, the gem surrounded Azul's body in a white outline, then a light that coated her appearance.

" _Hm, what to wear… Aha._ "

The light faded, revealing a much, _much_ differently dressed Azul.

The girl's eyes were still black, along with her hime-cut hair, and her skin still a pale tan. However, rather than a short and simple blue dress, she now wore an intricate dress with orange and black frills, giving her a gothic-lolita look to her.

On the girl's neck was a red and black collar. Her wrists going halfway up her arms were covered by a pair of long black cuff-like accessories, and to complete her look, a big orange bow adorned her head from left to right.

"I wish I had the full look... Meh, I'll just make 'em." The girl stated aloud as she pulled out a pink gem and tossed it to the ground, causing it to break and split open into a pair of contact lenses- one was red for her right eye, and the left eye wasn't even a proper eye color- it was more like a golden clock.

Azul put on both and walked towards a small pond to sample her appearance.

"Perfect!" The girl mused as she clapped and smiled. "And now the real game begins."

Azul looked towards the slums and pulled out a flintlock pistol and chuckled softly to herself.

"A Nightmare for a Nightmare." The girl mused as she began walking towards the Slums. "On second thought… It would attract a lot of attention if _they_ saw me like this. I know if they'd even recognize me."

The girl looked to her left- towards a faint light on the horizon, shining in the night.

"Perhaps Mister Hawkins and Miss Cunningham will be available to play. Cops will just be boring." Azul giggled to herself and began walking to the large city past the hill.

* * *

Gunfire rained down on the evacuated street of Virtue City. A Growlithe in a police uniform stopped to fire an Ember before reloading his MP5-A6 SMG.

"After her! Don't let her get away!" A Beedrill gijinka wielding an M1014 shotgun commanded as he dashed forward to the alley the girl escaped in.

The police teams all arrived at the end of the alley, where a girl in an orange and black gothic dress stood all by herself with her back turned to them.

"That outfit looks familiar…" One of the policemen said.

"Whatever, we can interrogate her once we're done capturing her."

One of them, a Taillow gijinka, stepped forward, with wings at the ready to get the Flying-type off the air if need be.

"Surrender now, and we won't hurt you." The Tiny Swallow gijinka ordered.

"Oh noooooes, I'm being arrested…" The girl stuttered for a moment before giggling to herself and turning around, giving the police a good, clear look at her. "Or maybe you could let me off the hook for a small price?"

"Holy…"

"I've never seen anything that pretty…"

"Almost like a Milotic…"

"Maybe she's a miscolored one?"

Azul giggled once more before pulling up her flintlock and pointing it towards the sky.

"I'd say some word you wouldn't understand, but I'd probably get sued for copyright if I took this any further." The girl mused as she gave them a smug grin with her red eye and clock-eye.

"H-Hey, freeze, or else…"

"Or else what?" Azul asked as she shot a small white gem out of her gun into the air.

Before the triggers could be pulled on the rest of their guns, a Protect formed in front of the girl, separating her from the Taillow and his allies.

"You're trapped! There isn't any escape!" A Zeksbtrika yelled as he took aim with an AUG HBAR.

"You wish." Azul replied as she turned and walked away, seemingly into the wall.

"A Ghost-type!?" The Beedrill exclaimed.

"Close enough." Azul stated before vanishing completely behind the wall.

"Dammit! Send in the Spirit Squadron, they'll deal with this!"

* * *

Azul walked through a large hall filled to the brim with plenty of Pokémon dressed in formal versions of their regular outfits. Those who wore neutral black suits were those who had certain distinguishing parts about them, or who didn't feel any bit uncomfortable looking like something else.

The girl strode through the men and women as if they didn't notice her. Once she found the front door, she bid her time and stepped out as another gijinka walked in, causing the man to trip.

"Ah, darn it."

Azul glanced back at him for a moment before continuing on through Virtue City streets. The bluish purple gem in her hand disintegrated into a black dust, blown away by the night breeze.

"Well, so much for Phantom Force." The girl mused to herself as she holstered her pistol and looked around.

"That should have caught their attention." Azul mumbled. "And in fact, they should be here any second now…"

Around the corner, a Lucario dressed in a brown trench coat appeared. The detective stared down the girl, taking in her features without any other move.

"My, my, it isn't nice to stare." The girl stated.

Russel flinched very slightly at the girl's tone, but then another gijinka wearing the same attire as him stepped before him.

"Be careful with this one, H." Bridget whispered to her ally. "Not even I know what her species is."

"Now that's a little rude, but I'm in a generous mood tonight." Azul stated as she did a little twirl and bowed. "For looking as unique as me, I think I'll let you call me…"

"Call you…"

"…Nutcracker Nightmare, I guess."

To the orange and black girl's amusement, Russel and Bridget both nearly dropped to the ground stupendously at the name.

"Hey, it has its meaning." Azul said with a giggle. "But I do agree, hearing someone call herself that isn't something you get to experience everyday, is it?"

"W-Well…"

"Stuttering, detective?" Azul queried. "Maybe the others were right when they said that a case full of beer and money is the only thing you can down."

Before the Lopunny or Lucario could react, Azul leapt up high into the air onto a thin pole protruding out of an apartment complex.

"I'll play a little easy on you two, let you get adjusted. After all, it wouldn't be any fun if you lost me immediately, right?"

"This girl…" The Normal-type detective gulped before jumping up onto a window on the same building as Azul, followed by Russel.

"Watch yourself, C."

"You watch your mind, H."

The two followed Azul up to the rooftop of the 6-story complex to find her standing at the edge overlooking downtown.

"Now the real fun begins." Azul mused as she pulled out her flintlock and shot downwards.

A scream was heard from down below, prompting the cosplayer to leap away to an adjacent rooftop.

"Catch me if you can." Azul said coyly with a wink at the duo.

Bridget simply stood there while the main detective shook his head and deadpanned at his comrade.

"Maybe it's you who should be watching your mind."

"Hmph… Let's just chase her already."


	16. C16 - Mercy

Shadows in War, Segment Two, Chapter Sixteen - Mercy

* * *

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I own only this story, its characters, and the plot._

 _I'd like to apologize for being so very late. Finals at school came up last week, and the week before that, we had pretty much every kind of project dumped onto us. Barely came out alive, but here I am again. Back to writing._

 _The rest of the notes, I'll continue below._

* * *

"Send us three recon units. This one's slippery."

"On it, detective."

Russel and Bridget continued to chase down a fleeing Azul through the downtown rooftops while the cops on ground did what they could to keep track of the girl's movements.

"Heads up!" The Lopunny gijinka yelled as she dodged gunfire from the mysterious girl who only seemed to be having fun.

As for the Fighting- and Steel-type, he hardened himself with Iron Defense, cutting down the damage of the projectiles that would otherwise have created serious injuries.

"Hm." Azul smirked as she twirled and leapt to the next rooftop, creating more distance between her and her pursuers.

"Dammit!" The Lucario gijinka exclaimed.

"We won't be able to catch her like this." Bridget stated as she approached her partner. "Neither of us can attack at range without the use of our pistols."

"Then that's exactly what we'll do." Russel responded by producing an M9 and an M1911.45 with platinum tinting and engraved text. The Normal-type with him took the 9mm handgun and unloaded the magazine to check ammo.

"Let's move."

The duo lost sight of their target as they came to a halt at a slightly more elevated building than the others. Fortunately for them, a Tranquill gijinka wearing a police uniform showed up.

"Detective." The Flying-type greeted. Russel nodded in response. "You've got me, a Fearow, and a Zubat tracking her down. She won't be escaping that easily."

"Right on time." The Lucario cooly replied.

"Our target is currently headed westwards of our current position." The Wild Pigeon Pokémon turned his head to face the aforementioned direction where indeed, a Fearow gijinka could be seen flying at height, observing the city below.

"Appreciated." Russel cocked his handgun and motioned for Bridget to go on. The Rabbit Pokémon nodded and bounded off westwards towards the Fearow. "Keep us posted. We'll catch up."

" _Recon units, huh?_ " Azul thought to herself as she glanced at the Zubat trailing her and the Fearow gliding above. " _Doesn't look like they're here for a fight, though. That means…_ "

The girl caught sight of of a much larger building just two structures ahead. It looked to be more of a school than anything else, and the rooftop was vacant for all she could see at a lower height on her building.

" _Bingo._ "

She kicked off the ground and caught onto the railings of the rooftop. With little effort, she managed the whole way up and examined the area calmly, as if nobody was chasing her at the moment.

" _This will do nicely. Convenient that it's a school too, just like the original confrontation._ " Azul giggled to herself as her eye with the yellow clock lens began glowing faintly.

"Target has stopped on the Academy Rooftop."

"She isn't making any moves to run."

The Aura Pokémon gijinka nodded in response, despite knowing the scouts couldn't see it.

"Looks like we've got her. Police units surrounding the target building as we speak." The Tranquill's voice came from an earpiece that Russel had switched on.

"We're sensing some sort of strange power there. Watch yourselves."

The duo exchanged glances and turned to the school in front of them.

"You ready?" The Lopunny gijinka queried as she adjusted her fedora.

"Only when you are." The Aura Pokémon detective replied.

With a deep breath, the two sped forward and kicked off the ground to reach the platform.

There stood the girl they had been after for suspected murder and for injuring other Pokémon. The girl had her back turned to them, and she casually turned slightly so her right red eye could be seen.

"Hm… A little late, but I suppose you pass." Azul stated. "I figured though, that I'd like to have a little more fun before I go."

The Fighting-type detective aimed his handgun at the legs of the girl who only chuckled.

"That just won't do, not with my current apparel… But you're very much free to try with something else." The girl giggled. "Oh, and I suppose you'd need a proper name to call me by… So I suppose my codename Nightmare will do."

"Hmph…" Bridget aimed a little higher, anticipating the girl to dodge.

" _They were right._ " Russel thought to himself as he glanced up at the three scouts hovering above. " _She's got a strange aura about her… It's completely unreadable, but betrays a little strange power… It's almost like she can freely control her aura flow._ "

" _Ara_ , what are you both so worked up about? I haven't even started anything fun yet, and I don't intend on moving from this spot unless it's called for."

"Keep quiet… And I won't have to paralyze you." The Normal-type detective coldly ordered.

"Your moveset includes High Jump Kick, Ice Punch, Sky Uppercut, and Double Hit. And I can't feel any gems on either of you... And as I said- your sluggish bullets won't work on me." Azul replied. "I suppose you're both ready though, to be pointing guns at me like that…"

The girl drew her musket and flintlock pistol and bowed her head down slightly to hide her eyes. A smile crept its way up her lips before she chuckled lightly.

" _Hajimemashou._ " Azul stated as she thrust her left arm with the flintlock pistol upwards. "Come."

With an eerie sound, a large golden clock formed behind the girl. Azul then pointed the musket towards XII while her flintlock pointed towards I.

"Aleph."

Russel and Bridget braced themselves after overcoming their surprise at the unfolding events. However, rather than a hit, Azul vanished completely from sight.

"What the hell?" The Zubat gijinka said.

"She just… Vanished." The Fearow followed.

"Strike team, we have a situatio-" The Tranquill couldn't finish his sentence as Azul suddenly came up from behind the two detectives with an insane grin on her face.

The duo gasped and turned as the girl drew closer with her guns pointed right at them.

* * *

A certain group of Pokémon followed an Absol through the Slums with the sun rising to the east. The setting of the previous night was all gone, replaced with the typical "poor and/or oppressed people trying to get by but are somewhat suspicious and suspicious of others" atmosphere.

"You're the Pokémon who bothered to follow me in the first place." The Dark-type replied as she sort of led the way for her allies.

"Because we wanna know what you've got in mind." Samantha said.

The group decided to find light work in the form of odd jobs to keep off suspicion in the Slums. Azul left them a message on the Meloetta's computer warning them that Periculum had a general idea of what the team looked like and were rising up the ranks of notoriety to the boogeyman. This of course led to a light discussion on how they were to remain completely ambiguous in the Slums.

Splitting up was an option. If they did that, they would hide at an inn for the nights, if they couldn't return to Driana's room without being spotted or attracting attention.

Then there was the idea of everyone going together as a group. The idea was turned down quickly soon after, since it went against their goal.

They knew that their encounter at the market heist probably made them stand out a little more. But thanks to apparent interference from Azul, it wouldn't be so difficult to slide back into the crowd.

" _I've done my part to get your fame down. Go find something to give you a different reputation within four days, and nobody will remember you were the heroes of that battle._ "

So of course, to go job hunting, they did agree on splitting up- only two would be together at any given time, and the work they did would keep them as far apart in the Slums as possible.

What better way to do that than to follow a Top Mercenary around, and with the whole gang too?

"Hmph. Just don't get in my way." The Absol gijinka stated.

Eventually, the Slums shifted its atmosphere to something different. This area had more children running around, more makeshift markets, structures, and other items. It almost seemed like a city after years of poverty.

"Oookay…?" The owl archer Nathan mumbled under his breath as the children eyed the group with wonder, indifference, or suspicion.

"Uh, mind explaining where we are?" The Meloetta queried. Angel ignored the question and kept walking forwards.

"I give up if Diana doesn't know where we're going." The Water-type of the group mused. "I don't like how these kids are making me feel a little guilty."

"Yeah. I've never seen so many of them out like this in the Slums." Taryn added.

Eventually, the group came to a stop at a slightly run-down structure with faded yellow walls.

"This is..." Samantha trailed off.

Angel wordlessly knocked on the front door and awaited a response.

After a few more seconds passed, the door slowly opened. No one was standing there, which confused the group, until they looked down to see a small boy. He donned brown rags with the center of his top being slightly whitish from what may have been some sort of dust. A long, brown raccoon tail about the boy's height extended behind him. He regarded the Absol standing before him with surprise and wonder in his hazel eyes.

"M-Mercy!?" The little Sentret exclaimed, shock evident in his eyes.

"Un..." Angel nodded in response. From the perspective of the five outsiders, what they saw was an excited child bouncing up and down before a silent warrior whose eyes alone could tell of plenty of death.

"C-C-Come in!" The Normal-type gijinka suggested as he stepped back, giving the Dark-type room to walk in.

The Dark-type strolled in at the boy's request, filling him with further glee.

"Wha...?" Diana stood there, frozen at what transpired.

"We're just as confused as you are." Taryn said.

"Uh... I suppose we follow her in." Nathan suggested, but the Sentret boy had already left.

"Then we'll just let ourselves in." Oscar said with nervousness seeped into his tone.

White and yellow tiles stained with dirt and dried mud lined the floor. The walls inside were of bricks painted a very faded light green, while the ceiling followed a similar design.

But the thing that stood out most was the Sentret running into what appeared to be a classroom, judging by the blackboard seen through the door frame.

"Everyone, Mercy's back! It's really her!" The young boy called out.

After that, more children dressed in rags with faded patterns of their species showed up- Shinx, Skitty, Vulpix, Phanpy, Vullaby, Pansage, Taiilow, and Cleffa. The children began crowding around Angel while the Absol in question regarded them with a neutral look.

"Uh... Angel? Mind explaining?" Taryn said, her tone betraying the surprise she felt.

"Oh? Are they your friends, Mercy?" The Skitty asked and stopped hopping up and down.

"...You could say that." The Dark-type replied as the children eyed the main cast.

"Uh... Hi." Nathan greeted with a shy wave.

A cheer erupted from the kids as they shifted the target of their attention to the five other Pokémon in the room. More children - Snivy, Helioptile, Abra, Deerling, Elekid; Azurill, Zigzagoon, and Larvitar appeared from other rooms and hallways, first gathering around Angel while others looked to the crew.

"Wow, they look so cool!"

"No way, she's a Meloetta just like in the books!"

"Mercy?"

The little boys and girls continued their cheer and chatter, spweing out comments and questions, oblivious that their cheer kept the older Pokémon from speaking up.

"Mercy?"

At the sound of a grown woman's voice, the children all fell silent and gave the Resistance team room to breathe.

"It really is you..." A woman at 5'8 donning a long, flowing white gown approached. The gown was somewhat cleaner than the clothes worn by the children, accented by a red spike lodged in the wearer's chest. Short green hear went back, then forward on her shoulders. Her eyes were a kind, light red in contrast to Angel's fierce, vibrant red.

Two more Pokémon flanked the Gardevoir gijinka on either side. To her left was a girl standing at 4'11 (150cm) wearing a faintly yellowish white blouse under a short leaf green coat. An equally green skirt flowed down to below her knees, accompanied by light tan thigh highs. Her shoes were of the same color as her blouse, and the girl's features betrayed a young look, resembling Matt and Audrey, save for the latter's height.

As the readers read through that last bit, the voice of a certain Captain screaming profanities whilst being restrained slightly by a blue cat could be heard in the distance.

The other on the right was a boy standing at five feet (152cm), looking to be the same age as the Servine gijinka. He wore a simple outfit- a black t-shirt and black pants. A short tail extended from the back, while the shoes were also black. What broke the pattern of nothing but pitch black were yellow rings- one on each of the boy's sleeves, one on either side of his pants, one on his tail, and one on his forehead. Jet black hair did cover the forehead ring halfway, but didn't exactly hide its presence. In the boy's neutral red eyes were life at seeing the other pure Dark-type in the room.

"It's good to see you alive and well, Mercy." The Umbreon gijinka stated, his eyes filled with awe for the Absol standing there.

"Feeling's mutual." The Disaster Pokémon simply replied. "How have things been?"

"Well, I think you can see that in everyone." The Servine responded with a smile. "So, who are these Pokémon?"

"They're Mercy's friends!" The Phanpy said.

"Uh... Angel?"

 _ **INSERT A LINE HERE**_

The children had all returned to what they were doing previously, leaving the main cast with the Gardevoir, Servine, and Umbreon.

"Sorry, they can be a bit of a handful sometimes." The Psychic- and Fairy-type stated. "My name is Lisa. Lisa Hammond."

"My name's Ken Wiley, and this here is Melissa." The Umbreon introduced with a polite wave. The Servine smiled at the group.

"Our turns, then. I'm Taryn Bailey." The Jolteon gijinka said.

"The name's Oscar Trevin, and the chill guy is Nathan Shaw." The Floatzel added with the Decidueye nodding in confirmation.

"Er… I'm Diana… Arilinia. And yes, I'm the real deal." The Meloetta said.

"My name is Samantha Autumn. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The Braixen introduced, earning a look of excitement from the Servine.

"You too?" The Grass-type asked as she gave Samantha a light twirl motion with a vine from her back and did a light bow.

The Firefox nearly gasped in surprise and nodded happily.

"Well, it's good to see you're already getting along." Lisa's smile was kind and gentle, looking out of place in the Slums of Driasia.

"So, down to business. You guys know Angel?" Oscar questioned.

"Yeah. Mercy is a good friend of ours." Ken replied.

"Mercy?" Taryn said.

"It's… The nickname I use in this place." Angel stated, looking as collected as ever.

"Yeah. I figure you guys know her quite well like we do, if you're calling her that." Melissa said with a light wave of her hand.

"Mmhmm. Mercy's a really cool Pokémon to be with." Taryn remarked.

"I see. So you've seen her in her work?" The Dark-type eeveelution inquired.

"You could say that." Nathan responded. "But why refer to her as Mercy?"

"Here in the Slums, it'd be for the best if as few people knew about you as possible." The Electric-type started. "So I'm guessing Mercy's staying off radar with that name."

"Mercy" nodded at the group.

"I brought the tea!" A Deerling gijinka said as she carefully walked closer with a dirty tray containing cups of tea.

With Lisa and Melissa's help, the cups were all set on the table, with some of the main cast eyeing them carefully.

"Oh, don't worry. Those are perfectly clean." Lisa stated reassuringly.

"We can't clean everything here since, you know, but Psychic- and Grass-typing helps when cleaning the things that seriously need to be." The Servine added. Before anyone from the Resistance team could interject, a familiar yet unusually heard voice speaks up.

"You can trust them." The main cast all turned their gazes to the white-clad girl standing there, taking a sip out of one of the cups of tea.

"If she says there's no problem, then good for us!" Oscar said happily before taking a sip _formally_ , as if he were a different Pokémon.

"Wait, you know how to drink tea too?" Samantha and Melissa remarked in unison, earning a nod out of the Water-type.

"I know it's not usually my style, but I've got more smarts on this kind of thing than you think." The Floatzel remarked before taking another sip. "The sweet flavor… It's meant for the kind of guys who aren't used to drinking tea, eh?" Lisa giggled lightly in reply.

"My, my, you're a lot smarter than you let on." The Floatzel proudly puffed up his chest with a smug grin.

"S-Sheesh…" Taryn grumbled before drinking the tea quickly like one would with water. "Urk- what the heck?" The Electric-type Pokémon cringed visibly as the contents scalded her tongue. At her expense, some of the group shared giggles and laughs.

"You're not supposed to drink it like that… You take small sips at a time and savor the taste, learn it, feel it…" Samantha trailed off.

"O-Okay… I'll give it a try." The Jolteon gijinka responded as she blew on her tongue.

"Nice and easy…" Diana mumbled as she took a light sip.

"I never knew…" The owl archer seated down mused.

"Say, Oscar, where'd you learn about tea?" Samantha questioned.

"Back at my home town." The lancer replied. "See, my old place's culture was a lot like that one other country that's about two oceans away from here."

"Well, we weren't there long enough to really know, so I guess that explains that." Nathan remarked.

"Hey, why don't I know anything about this?" The yellow eeveelution queried.

"Oh, we're talking about when Nathan and I first met Oscar." The fire mage added. "Good times…"

"Ehehe… So, back to the point…"

* * *

"Wow… I didn't think Mercy would end up in situations like that." Melissa commented.

"Yeah… Thinking about those five missions again really shows how much we've been through in the past month." The Fire-type responded before taking a sip out of her cup.

"To think that her joining us would trigger a sequence of events such as these…" The Decidueye in the room mused.

"Goes to show how amazing Mercy is." Ken said, took a sip of his tea, and gave the Absol a knowing glance.

"Hm…"

"So, what about you guys? How do you know A- I mean, Mercy?" Taryn asked. She shifted in her seat to cross her legs while her empty cup was taken by a Snivy gijinka.

"We met her about a year ago." Lisa started. "It was when we were in a much tighter spot…"

* * *

 _[Flashback]_

"Please… Please."

Lisa scanned through an old book with plenty of contacts. No real-sounding names were there. They all went with nicknames like "Blaster," "Hermit," "Purple Rain," and even "Underground Current." The Gardevoir scanned through each of them and another tag written next to their names before their contact numbers. "Mercenary," "Dealer," "Lord," and the like.

"Lisa…"

"Auntie Lisa?"

The Gardevoir gijinka turned her head to see the children plus Ken and Melissa all watching her anxiously.

"Auntie… What are we going to do?" A Larvitar questioned.

"I… I'm trying to get us some help."

Lisa continued dialing the numbers of cheaper mercenaries and small-time fighters, but with no success. An hour went by, and as the Gardevoir was taking a break with a glass of water, the phone rang.

With Telekinesis, the Psychic-type picked up the phone and floated over to it.

"Hello?"

" _Hey, you're that girl who's been calling for a fighter, right?_ " Lisa gulped. Her face betrayed her surprise, calling the attention of Ken who had been leaning on a wall while Melissa went to comfort the children.

"Hm?"

"I…" The Embrace Pokémon weighed out her options and steeled herself. "Yes… Why?"

" _Heh, figured as much. You sure don't sound very strong yourself if that Telekinesis is the best you can do._ " The Gardevoir nearly jumped in shock and lost her psychic grip on herself and the telephone.

"W-Who… How?"

" _That isn't important right now_." The voice replied smugly. " _Let's say I know a merc. A really good one. Won't disappoint. And I can get you to contact that person._ "

Lisa's thought train was roaming in a similar fashion to a paralyzed 1HP Mesprit. Who was this person? How did he know she was using Telekinesis at the moment? And how did he find her?

" _Now, I'll be willing to have her lend you a helping hand. The payment can wait until after whatever you need is done._ "

"…How will this person meet me?"

" _She'll be briefed about you and then sent right to your doorstep. Trust me, she won't hurt you as long as you don't piss her off._ "

The Gardevoir gijinka gulped visibly and glanced at a worried Umbreon standing there before taking a deep breath and opening her mouth to speak.

"Okay. I accept."

" _Good, good! Don't worry your pretty little self anymore._ " The voice said. Quiet chuckling could be heard on the other side from multiple voices, making the Fairy-type more nervous than she initially was. " _Well, I'll be seeing you after this person leaves your place. Look for a man with a purple trench coat._ "

With that, the speaker hung up, leaving an anxious Lisa and a worried Ken.

"Lisa?"

"Ken… Get Melissa."

After half an hour passed, a knock on the door caught the children's attention.

"Stay here." Melissa said. The Servine gijinka headed for the door by Lisa's side while Ken's hand fell to the grip of a sword worn around the boy's waist.

Lisa took a deep breath and exchanged glances with her Grass-type friend before sharing nods and reaching for the doorknob.

Slowly, Lisa opened the door. There, a young woman with vibrant red eyes, short white hair with a black sickle in it, a short white jacket over a black t-shirt, white shorts, light gray thigh highs, and black fingerless gloves stood. The white gijinka's gaze fell to the Gardevoir and Servine standing at the door, presumably to greet her.

"U-Um… Are you…" Before Lisa could finish her question, the Absol cut her off.

"Mercenary. You need not know me by anything else." Angel stated. "What is it?"

The two girls at the door both exchanged glances once more.

"Come in." Melissa said with a light bow as she walked in, followed by Lisa.

The Dark-type replied by silently following the duo and closing the door behind her.

The children all watched with interest and apprehension at the newcomer, while Ken stood protectively before them in a sheathed sword stance.

"Hmph…"

"U-Um… We've had a group that's been threatening us." Lisa started. "They've threatened some of the children here individually already and traced them here. And earlier this morning… If I can't give them everything I stand to protect- this place, the children, and our sustenance, then… They'll take it by force."

"Hm."

"So, we need your help… Deal with them for us. Lisa and I can't fight, and Ken isn't strong enough to take down so many of them by himself."

"…Understood. Where are they?"

The Servine and Gardevoir both blinked in surprise.

"That's it?" Melissa queried.

"All that matters to me is this little quest. Now… Give me the details, and I'll handle it."

"E-Er… _She's very straightforward._ Northwest of here by a few hundred meters." Lisa stated. "They're occupying a run-down bar of sorts with a number of alleyways around them."

Angel nodded and slowly began walking to the door.

"W-Wait, um, maybe Ken can go with you."

The Umbreon nodded and relaxed his stance as he looked to the other Dark-type.

"Yeah. They're going to be tough to deal with alone… And I can help."

The Absol turned one eye back to them- a piercing red.

"Stay. I can handle them on my own, and based on your situation…" The Absol's gaze fell to the children. "You should stay here in case anything happens."

The Umbreon gijinka nodded in response and watched as Angel left the orphanage.

* * *

"Huh… So some guy managed to get her to work for some random Pokémon?" Oscar questioned.

"Yes… We were relieved at first when Mercy left. We thought that would be the end of our problems." Melissa said.

"But… Shortly after Mercy left…" Ken trailed off.

"Oh, right… That guy said he'd come by once Mercy left, right?" Taryn asked.

"How are you so used to that name?" Samantha asked.

"In my kind of business, I get used to calling people by their nicknames and codenames and switching whenever I need to." The Jolteon replied.

"Yes." Lisa stated in response to the Electric-type's question.

* * *

The door swung open, revealing a man in a purple trench coat. He wore pants with just the same shade, while his shoes seemed unearthly. He had messy purple hair his eyes were of a sinister red, and his height was about 172cm (5'8).

"Well, this is a quaint little place." The Gengar gijinka mused before turning a smug grin over to Lisa.

"W-Who are you!?" Melissa exclaimed.

"That voice… You're…?"

The Ghost-type cackled evilly, making the children all huddle up in fear. Ken grit his teeth and prepared to bring out his sword, but widened his eyes slightly when he saw more figures enter the room.

They were all dressed in fairly similar attire, but their colors and accessories set them apart. One was a Grumpig, another was a Boldore, and another, an Ariados.

"Spoilers: She's right." The Gengar introduced. "Now, once she's finished with her mission, she'll report back to you lot… And once she's finished with that, I'll be collecting our reward."

"R-Reward?" Ken queried.

"What would you have me pay?" Lisa questioned, masking her fear with determination.

"Oh, nothing much… Besides, those guys who were after you don't know the REAL prize around here…"

* * *

"Shortly after that, he left… But it was like our situation hadn't changed at all." Melissa said.

"Even with my typing, I can't handle that guy's bunch and had to back down." Ken added.

"Yeesh… What happened next?"

* * *

"Mercenary…" Ken slowly said as the character in question slowly walked towards them.

"I've confirmed my targets were correct. They will not be bothering you anymore." Angel stated.

"O-Oh, thank you…" Lisa replied, averting the Absol's gaze. "As for your pay, I will-"

"No." Angel stated. "I already have my pay." She followed as she let her glance shift to the children for just a moment.

"Wha… But…" Ken trailed off.

"I already have my pay." Angel stated. This time, her eyes did not seem as cold or serious as they usually were- instead a pair of warm red eyes were looking onto them. The Dark-type paused for a moment before taking out a small slip of paper from her pocket. "If ever you have anything else that requires a mercenary's attention…"

The paper flew out of the white gijinka's hands as she turned to leave. Melissa slowly approached the fallen paper and picked it up.

"…This is your contact number?" The Grass-type queried. Without a reply, the Absol gijinka kept on walking forward.

After the Absol left, the three grown Pokémon all exchanged glances. Sure, they could contact her on the phone now. But would that matter if she couldn't hear it if she just left the building?

"…What do we do now, Lisa?" Ken asked.

"I…" The Gardevoir was at a loss for words. She could try contacting the Absol through Psychic power if the target was still nearby, but she'd risk getting caught by the stronger Grumpig on the Gengar's side.

"…"

"Auntie…?" A Snivy asked as he slowly approached the Gardevoir from Ken's side. "What's going to happen to us?"

"You'll be alright… I think I know what they want."

"Auntie Lisa? What do they want?" A Skitty gijinka queried. Her usual smiling face was replaced with a tearful look.

"Auntie… I'm scared!" Another of the children exclaimed.

"It's okay, sweeties… Just be brave… Ken and Melissa can take care of you."

"Lisa, you can't mean-"

The door swung open, gaining everyone's attention.

"Heh. Looks like her job is done, and we can get our pay." The Gengar stated as he slowly began to approach the Gardevoir, followed by his three subordinates.

"I-I can't watch…" Ken said as he shakily held the grip of his blade. The Ariados gijinka smirked at him as he prepared a pair of twin blades as well.

"Don't try anything funny, kid."

"Urk…"

"Auntie Lisa!"

"Auntie, don't go!"

The children's cries fell on deaf ears as the Ghost-type drew ever closer. The Psychic-type resigned herself to her fate and stood up after giving the kids one last look.

"I'm not letting you take Auntie!" The Snivy exclaimed as he quickly got in between the two, stopping the Gengar in his tracks.

"Eh? And you really think you can stop me?" The Poison-type sneered.

"Auguste, no!" Melissa exclaimed with a face full of panic for her little brother.

"Urgh… I-If you want to take away Auntie Lisa… Then you'll have to kill me first!" The young Grass-type exclaimed.

"Auguste, no…" Lisa slowly mumbled. Laughter erupted from the Gengar and his companions.

"Alright then… I was going to leave you alone if your pretty little friend came over quietly, but if you really wanna die, then I can give that to you." The Gengar stated as a cloud of purple began to form in his hand. The Grumpig, Ariados, and Boldore all displayed amusement from the affair.

"Urgh…"

"Auguste!" Ken exclaimed as he rushed in with his blade. However, before he could reach the Gengar, the Ariados was already in front of him with two blades to block Ken's reflex swing.

"Heh… I'm in a good mood, so I'll let you watch." The Bug-type snickered, much to the Umbreon's displeasure.

"Auguste! Please, stop it!" The Servine gijinka screamed as she dropped to her knees.

"Urrrggghhh…" Auguste, the little Snivy, trembled in fear but defiantly stood to face the Gengar charging a deadly Toxic in his hand.

Lisa was frozen in fear- Auguste and Ken would be killed and she would become a slave. Everything was falling apart. Melissa alone would not be able to support them all, especially with them being vulnerable to pretty much anything that can fight.

" _It's… Over._ " The Gardevoir quietly thought as time seemed to slow. " _My life's work…_ "

"Now, kid… I respect you for that. But it won't get you very far in the real world. So, goodnight."

The Ghost-type Pokémon thrust his arm forward.

"AAAAAGGHH!"

Then, the scream played out right as Lisa shut her eyes, unable to watch any longer.

For little Auguste, he was trembling. His eyes were shut too, and he was waiting for the hit. But when he heard the scream come from the man in front of him, he instinctively stepped back and widened his eyes.

"What the hell!?" The Boldore gijinka roared in fury.

Lisa slowly opened her eyes. As soon as she could see again, shock changed her expression.

Before her, Auguste was just seated on the floor in awe, while a girl clad in white stood with her back turned to them and a bronze-bladed broadsword coated in Toxic.

"GAAAH!" The Gengar roared as he took a few steps back and shook his hand from the pain of running it against a sword. "You! What the hell are you doing here!?"

Wordlessly, Angel raised her blade to her opponent.

The Ariados watching was frozen in shock, giving Ken the opportunity to charge a small amount of dark energy into his makeshift sword and strike back.

"Argh! Dammit-"

But before the Bug-type could counter, he was sent flying by a Shadow Ball.

"Hey, we're your contractors!" The Grumpig exclaimed as he shot a Hidden Power at Angel.

However, the Absol simply cut off the move completely with just a swing of her blade.

"Pathetic." The mercenary commented. "You would dare to use me to bring a group of children to tears, to take away their caretaker, and to even _murder_ two of them?" Angel spat out. The venom was evident in her angry voice. "That is a crime that I will _never_ forgive."

"Grr… Boys, we're doing this!" The Gengar exclaimed and revealed a pair of knuckles in his sleeves which he equipped. "The head of a Top Mercenary will give us millions! Add that to our first reward, and we'll be set for life- no we can get even more than just this Gardevoir!"

"You're very free to try." The Dark-type stated.

With a roar, the Boldore charged headfirst for the Dark-type. She blocked the blow with a heavy swing of her blade and parried the hit with a quick Ice Beam, sending the Boldore back a couple of meters.

Angel swerved her body left and right to evade a series of Power-Up-Punches thrown by the Gengar, then ducked, spun around, and scored a Night Slash before the Ghost-type could react.

The opponent was sent flying straight to a wall, where he collided with half his back in the wall and floor.

The Absol took an Energy Ball shot by the Grumpig, but shook off the move as if it was nothing.

"Whoa, she's so strong…"

"Auntie Lisa, Auntie Lisa!" a Deerling and Elekid helped the Gardevoir and Auguste stand back up. Melissa instantly ran for them once she regained strength in her limbs and fell back to her knees to hug Auguste tightly.

"Auguste! Don't ever do that again!"

"S-Sister…"

The Absol spared the group a glance before taking a direct X-Scissor from the Ariados. She sighed as she ignored the pain and sliced back with a heavy Night Slash, leaving a large gash on the Bug-type's torso.

"You insolent little-!" The Gengar exclaimed as he hurled himself in with a Shadow Claw. Right as Angel was about to use Shadow Ball, the Ghost-type snickered before vanishing in plain sight, causing Angel to waste the move on a wall.

This gave the Boldore the opportunity to land a few Rock Blasts onto Angel, forcing the Dark-type to block with her blade.

" _They're much weaker than they initially showed._ " The Absol gijinka mused inwardly before sending an Ice Beam at the Grumpig.

The Psychic-type staggered back and clutched his freezing chest, glaring back at the Absol.

" _What the heck… She's incredibly strong._ " Ken thought to himself as he could only watch. Alone, he would probably lose to just the Ariados, but another pure Dark-type was handling all four of them like they were new-born Magikarps. " _The force in her attacks… She's on some kind of ridiculous level!_ "

Angel traded blows with the Ariados and took a second to shoot a Shadow Ball at the Rock-type opponent on the other side of the room to keep him from trying anything.

After a couple more strikes, Angel parried and pushed back the Poison-type fighting her.

"Miss, behind you!" The Taillow girl shouted out from Lisa's side.

Angel turned around right on time to deflect a punch from the Gengar.

"Damn you… You're supposed to be working for us!" The Poison-type spat out a dark purple ooze onto the floor.

"My contract was over. I received my pay, so I need not obey you any longer." Angel retorted as she backed off quickly and sliced upwards before the foe could react.

"Wooow! Miss, miss, what are you?" A Helioptile boy asked.

"Hey, she's busy fighting right now! And it's 'who are you,' not 'what are you!" A Vullaby responded, giving the Normal-type a light smack.

Angel glanced down to the children, then briefly to Lisa who was watching the fight with silenced shock. The Dark-type took a deep breath.

"I am a mercenary." The Absol gijinka replied before spinning around to swing behind her, successfully repelling a Hidden Power from the Grumpig and a boulder from the Boldore.

"Mer… Huh?" a Shinx mumbled.

"I think she said mer-seen-something?" A Zigzagoon asked.

Angel turned her attention back to the battle, where the Gengar was charging another toxic in his hand, covered by his three allies.

" _That won't work._ " The white-clad girl thought before dashing forward. She sidestepped to dodge a Charge Beam, then a String Shot, and a Rock Blast barrage from the opponents.

"Too late!" The Gengar exclaimed with a smug look as he hurled the purple cloud at the Absol closing in.

With a quick swing, her sword deflected the poison onto the ground. The four only had a moment to look on in shock before a Night Slash cut them all down.

Angel backed off and shot a few Shadow Balls at the downed quartet, preventing them from moving.

"Urgh… She's too strong…"

The Absol's fierce red eyes glared them down as if they were maggots- no worse than that. She then began charging a bluish white ball of energy before her, getting ready to freeze them all to death.

"This is the end of the line for you." The Dark-type mercenary mumbled as her Ice Beam grew colder and colder.

"Dammit… We could have…"

The Grumpig spat out blood and panted, looking worse for wear like his allies.

"Wait!"

Angel turned her eyes to her right where the children, Lisa, and Melissa were.

"If you're a mercy, then you should show them mercy!" An Azurill gijinka yelled out.

"Even though they're bad people…" The Larvitar gijinka trailed off.

"It's still a more bad thing to kill someone!" A Sentret finished.

Angel turned her gaze back to the weakened gijinkas below her.

"Grr… I will not have a bunch of helpless kids show mercy now… Fucking do it! End it already!" The Gengar exclaimed.

The suspense rang heavy in the air as all eyes were on Angel now. After a moment's consideration, the girl's Ice Beam dissipated into a faint amount of cold mist in front of her.

"Wha…" The Ariados mumbled.

"We're… Not going to die?" The Boldore questioned.

"…If I see your faces here in the Slums again… I will personally make you wish that your fathers were wearing plastic." The girl coldly stated.

That was all that was needed to scare them off. Using whatever strength they had left, they all got up and ran off.

Shortly after the four of them ran off, Angel sheathed her blade and looked around the room.

Thankfully, due to her blocking and taking hits rather than dodging many of them, the room and halls were mostly intact, save for a little poison, webs, electrically charged walls, and rubble.

"Y-You saved us again…" Lisa quietly mumbled.

"Hmph…" The Absol took a deep breath before walking over and extending a hand to the Gardevoir. The Fairy-type took it and rose to her feet.

"I can't thank you enough for saving Auguste… Without him, I…"

The Absol nodded at the Servine then turned her gaze to the Umbreon. He looked more like he had seen a legendary Pokémon in action, and was trying to process that that Pokémon just saved him and his family.

"You're really awesome, Mercy!" An Abra boy exclaimed.

"Yeah, so awesome!" The Phanpy followed.

"I knew you were a good guy, Mercy!" the Azurill gijinka added.

"Yeah! And you were so cool too!"

"Mer…cy?" Angel quietly mused.

"U-huh!" The Skitty responded. "Cause you said your name was mercy something, right? And you DID show mercy right there!"

"It looks like they like you." Ken said as he approached.

"Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!"

After some time had passed and things calmed down, Angel agreed to stay a little longer for some tea.

"It's not much, but please." Melissa said as she gave the Absol a cup of the drink.

The Dark-type nodded and accepted the cup from the Servine's vine.

"Words cannot express how grateful we are to you." Lisa said as she, Ken, and Melissa took a seat around the table. "If you hadn't come back…"

"Intuition told me that he would do something drastic for a reward. You didn't seem like you held any money to pay for my services at all, so piecing things together was simple." The Absol explained.

"Still… Anyway, all I have to give is… What remains of our money… I'm sure we'll manage, somehow-" The Gardevoir was cut off by the Absol's near-monotone voice.

"You aren't indebted to me." She stated, much to the surprise of the other three around the table. Two of the children- a Vulpix and Abra, were watching from behind a wall. "I already have my reward."

"Do… Do you mean the money those guys must have given you?" Ken queried.

"That was for eliminating the idiots trying to harass you." Angel replied cooly.

"Then… What is your reward?"

Angel paused for a moment before moving her head faintly to the right.

"…"

"Um… I know it's not my place to ask, but…" Ken trailed off while Angel took a sip of her tea.

" _This is surprisingly well done, given the conditions._ "

"Those guys mentioned something about you… Top Mercenary, I think?" The Umbreon questioned. "Are you really one of them?"

"…There's no denying that." The Absol replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I just thought… You were incredible. The sheer difference in our levels made me feel a little pressure from you in that fight. And you took those blows like they were nothing. And your attacks were just…"

"Hm. I get that a lot."

"Yes… Even though I don't fight and can't sense many things, I could feel that power too." Melissa added.

"To have someone of such high potential doing things like that for us… Why?" Lisa asked.

"…You were asking me what my reward was, correct?" The Absol gijinka queried, earning a few nods in response. "My reward is seeing that helpless children like these are protected, and that someone will be there to guide them and watch over them as they grow."

* * *

 _[Flashback End]  
_

"After that, Mercy stayed over like a guard or something. She even did a few odd jobs to get us a little extra cash." Ken stated.

"Hunh. Didn't think you'd be a hero, Angel." Oscar remarked.

"Speaking of which, you really settled with calling her Mercy?" Nathan quizzed.

"Ah, that." Melissa took a sip of her tea. "Lisa?" The Gardevoir gijinka nodded.

"She did reveal her name to us, but the kids were insistent on calling her Mercy. Before she did, though, we only called her Mercenary, and the kids ended up getting stuck with the name."

"So everyone here knows her as 'The Mercy that saved us." Ken added.

"Wow. You're really a great person, huh Angel?" Samantha remarked. The Absol looked away in response.

"Oh, yeah. She even trained me for a while too." Ken said. "It's thanks to her that I can fight a lot better now."

"Yeah? Think there's anywhere we can spar a bit, then?" The Floatzel gijinka asked, earning a smile out of the Umbreon.

"Well… Assuming you don't go overboard, we can use the back for practice battles." Melissa stated. "It's where Mercy trained Ken."

"Good to go?" Oscar queried.

"Yeah. Haven't gotten a lot of practice in a while."

* * *

The children stood on one side by a wall with their guardians while the main cast hung back at another corner. Diana volunteered to act as referee for this match, so she stood to one side of the center of the battlefield.

Raising her arms to both sides, the Meloetta looked to either side of her to see the Umbreon with a makeshift katana in his hands. The blade was however, shorter than the usual katana- being about 43 inches long (123cm). The grip however, was of just the right size.

On the other side of the field, stood a certain Floatzel gijinka with spear at the ready. The polearm was at roughly seventy inches(178cm). Wood made up the pole while the tip was of steel, and the point was flanked by a pair of smaller blades pointing diagonally. And on the Water-type's left arm was the new buckler he had purchased the other day, looking fit for battle.

"Basic rules here are no destroying anything, no hitting the spectators, and definitely don't go all out. Now, if both of you are ready, then begin!"

Without skipping a beat, the two Pokémon charged forward with a katana radiating Dark-type energy and a spear enveloped in water.

Pursuit and Liquidation connected, sending both fighters back.

Wordlessly, Ken shot off star-shaped rays at the Floatzel. Oscar blocked a few of the projectiles with his buckler and spear, but took in the grunt of the attack.

The Water-type Pokémon retaliated with a Water Pulse, which the target easily avoided.

Once the Umbreon landed, he swung to block a strike from the Floatzel's spear.

"Not one for using your moves either?" Oscar queried as he applied force to his attack.

"Looks like we're in the same boat." The Dark-type eeveelution responded. He then followed by parrying the blow, sending his opponent back a meter.

Before Oscar could do anything else, he was struck by a Quick Attack delivered from the Umbreon's sword.

As Ken Wiley sped up again for another attack, Oscar smirked and swung at the right moment to cut off the Umbreon.

"Oh, crap."

Ken grunted as Double Hit struck him, leaving a couple of small cuts in his torso.

The Umbreon gijinka quickly shook off the blows and sent a heavy strike Oscar's way. The Floatzel raised his arm to keep the blade from reaching his body.

"You're open!"

"You think so?"

The Water-type quickly backed off and charged a blue orb of water in his palms.

"Too slow!"

Immediately, Oscar staggered back from the force of Pursuit.

"Darn, that worked like a Sucker Punch…" The Floatzel remarked as he rubbed his cheek.

"Since I don't know how to use the specific move, I thought combining Pursuit and Quick Attack's properties would work as a good substitute. Looks like I was right." The Moonlight Pokémon stated.

"Good thinking, kiddo." Oscar replied. "Now, let's see how you deal with this!"

A large boulder materialized before the Floatzel. With his strength, he hurled toe projectile at the Umbreon.

Ken dodged the move and shot a few Swift rays as he closed in towards the Sea Weasel gijinka.

" _Oh, hell no._ "

The Water-type Pokémon rushed in with Liquidation, ignoring the Swift pelting his body. The Umbreon widened his eyes in horror as he found his attack had failed to slow down the Floatzel, resulting in a Liquidation smashing directly into his midsection.

"Go, get him, Ken!" The Helioptile cheered.

"Come on, uncle Ken, go!" The Azurill followed.

"Hey, that Floatzel guy is pretty cool too!" The Larvitar girl cheerily added.

Melissa chuckled at the children's chatter about the battle. She then turned her gaze back to the battle between her best friend and one of Angel's new friends.

"Take this!"

Liquidation struck Ken down once more. The Umbreon shuddered for a moment as he felt his Defense stat drop. He turned his attention back to the Water-type standing there with a smirk.

"Knew that would happen eventually."

Ken rushed back in with a Pursuit, followed by a Quick Attack in imitation of Sucker Punch. Oscar couldn't react fast enough and let out a pained shout as the move struck him down, sending him to the ground.

As soon as the Floatzel got up, he swung a Double Hit to block the second Pursuit. The Sea Weasel then pressed forward with an onslaught of strikes from his spear.

" _Melissa and everyone else are watching… I can't lose here, not to some stat drops!_ " The black-clad boy thought. " _That's it!_ "

Angel's eyebrow twitched as she noticed Ken's movement patterns.

"Looks like the kid can hold his own." Taryn remarked.

"It's that speed of his that's helping against Oscar." Nathan said. "Otherwise, our friend might have won much earlier."

"Gee, wonder where that came from?" Samantha asked as she looked towards the Absol standing next to her. "Angel?"

"Oscar's in for trouble."

Ken allowed one strike to hit him right as he jumped back, sending him flying towards a wall. The Umbreon groaned as he slowly rose to his feet while the Floatzel approached slowly.

"Looks like I'll be walking away with the trophy." The Water-type mused as he prepared a Liquidation.

"Not a chance." The Dark-type eeveelution gave the Sea Weasel a smug smirk, before leaping forward while his rings began to glow.

"Huh?" Oscar prepared to block the next hit, but instead was blinded by a bright light. "Agh, I can't see!"

"Can't hit what you can't see!"

Though blinded, Oscar felt the impact of numerous Pursuit attacks swinging at him through the Umbreon's makeshift blade. Each hit dealt modest amounts of damage, but it was pretty clear that he wouldn't last very long if this kept up.

"Right as the Floatzel regained his vision, he swung to his right where he predicted the next attack would come based on sound. However, Oscar found that he jabbed at the air and that his opponent was standing on the other side of the field.

"He knows how long his targets will stay blinded from Flash." Nathan said, earning the attention of his companions. "Ken used Quick Attack to get away once he knew his time was up, giving him the perfect opportunity to end the fight while his target is dazed from hitting the air."

"Hey, I know that trick. Some of the guys I knew before did that too. Everyone who got hit with that hated it so much!" The Jolteon gijinka commented.

"Ken was only just learning how to fight properly when I first met him. Given his basic moveset, it was easy to teach him those strategies."

"So, speaking of which, how did you train the guy?" Samantha queried.

"I was his opponent." The Absol simply replied, earning looks of surprise from the three Pokémon. "All the time."

"…Well… I imagine him to have been quite weak before he met you." Nathan mused.

Ken and Oscar both stood, panting. At Diana's call, the two stood up straight and gave each other a thumbs up.

"Heh, that was a good one." Oscar remarked. "Normal practice battles like this are kinda refreshing."

"Same here. I haven't been able to test my own skills for a while now."

The children all ran up to the two, cheering words of praise to both of the fighters.

" _All in a day's work, I suppose._ " The Meloetta thought to herself as she watched her own companions plus Lisa and Melissa head over to the group. " _This is a lot better than my previous work._ "

* * *

The day went on with the main cast playing with the children, sharing stories, and the like. Angel and Lisa had discussed matters on hand, and the Absol would leave the orphanage and come back after about twenty minutes throughout the rest of the day.

And each time the mercenary would come back, she would have at least 200 Pokédollars to give to the orphanage, or some other item of use or worth to the children.

Now, it was just the Absol standing on the ruined rooftop of the orphanage. Rubble and dirt coated the place, too heavy for any of the Pokémon below to carry. This kept the inhabitants of the building from going there due to inconvenience, but that never stopped this gijinka from coming up.

The night sky from where they were seemed normal. It didn't have the same look or atmosphere as compared to being on the streets of the Driasian Slums.

Rather, the air here was peaceful, just like back then.

"… _A lot has changed since then._ " The Dark-type mused silently as she gazed into the stars above. " _I'm not a helpless little girl anymore… Right?_ "

The sound of light footsteps snapped Angel out of her thoughts. She turned around and put her right hand to her sheathed sword, but relaxed upon seeing a firefox with her hands up.

"H-Hey, it's just me…" Samantha said nervously. After Angel relaxed, the Braixen did too and trekked through the rubble to come closer to the Dark-type. "It's so pretty…"

Angel followed the Fire-type's gaze to the night sky and nodded.

"Hey, Angel…"

"?"

"You know… You're cold." Samantha Autumn suddenly said, catching the Absol off guard. "I mean it in a good way… You're a pleasant kind of cold." The fox girl mused.

At that, the Absol relaxed internally. " _That would have been quite odd of her… But why bring that up?_ "

As if knowing what the Absol was thinking and being subtle about it, the Braixen looked her way and smiled.

"When we first met you, you'd only protect others for rewards. You fought only for yourself. I thought you were a selfish and arrogant girl when you would trudge on ahead of us all the time, taking enemies out before we could even get there."

Angel paused her stargazing to look back at the Fire-type.

"But… Seeing you protect all these little kids like this… Seeing how much you care… I realized I was wrong about you." Samantha said. "I used to only be glad you were around since you were so strong, and you had good tactics. But now, I think I'm happy because I know that someone so… Pleasantly cold is on the team." She smiled as she finished her explanation.

"…"

"Hey, Angel, can I ask something?"

"You just did." The Absol replied. Samantha sat there dumbstruck for a moment before giggling.

"What makes you want to protect these Pokémon?" The Fox gijinka queried. Angel took a deep breath and looked back up to the stars. "I mean, if you don't want to talk about that, then it's OK."

The Disaster Pokémon paused for a moment before opening her lips to speak.

"Little ones like them…" The white gijinka started. "They do not deserve to be in trouble like that. They did nothing to experience the cruelty of the world."

The Braixen kept silent, listening intently to the Absol.

"No… No child should suffer like that."

Samantha paused and nodded to herself. "And… And when they grow up, like Ken and Melissa… What will you do with them then?"

"…If they can keep themselves to be good Pokémon… Then I will treat them as potential clients, waiting to hire me." This response got a small laugh out of the Braixen, causing Angel to look back at her with a questioning look.

"No, no, it's just…" Samantha smiled. "You really do care about them, huh?"

A comfortable silence followed as the two girls continued to stargaze.

* * *

A figure stood over a hill overlooking the Driasian slums, watching all those who pass in and out. Behind her, a tall man stood with a small but fancy house behind him.

"…"

Light poured towards the figure's direction, revealing their appearance.

A light lilac side slit dress coated the figure's body from the collar down to the feet. The sleeves were extremely long- almost twice as long as the wearer's arms. The lower half of the dress was of a more purplish tint. From one of the slits, a furry lilac tail extended. The woman wore geta on her feet (the slippers with a pair of stands under the soles). Her facial features were sharp, but as there was no light hitting there, only a pair of red eyes with purple glints could be seen watching the Slums. However, her hair could be seen clearly- long, light lilac hair bound by ribbons in a low ponytail.

" _I can feel it… Another one resides there._ " The girl thought. " _This will be exciting…_ "

Abrupt laughter from behind her made the Mienshao gijinka's brow twitch.

"Nyo-ho-ho! Now, everyone will see the power I have gained!"

The Mienshao sighed internally and turned to face the speaker.

A tall and rather bulky looking man stood accompanied by four other Pokémon in business variants of their species' designs. The man had a thick and bushy mustache covering everywhere between his large reddish nose and his upper lip. The man's hair was covered by a large, red metal hat. The man's torso was covered in a lustrous t-shirt with the colors of platinum. His pants, likewise, were of the same design. He wore a pair of expensive-looking big boots that just showed how much money he had. The man stroked his mustache lightly with his left hand while looking down at the Slums with a smug grin.

"With you, my dear, we'll be able to expand the business, obtain more slaves, and shut down anyone who dares to oppose us!" The Probopass gijinka exclaimed.

The Mienshao only stared at him silently, unmoved by the man's speech.

"Paying off Periculum will be a simple task if all I have to do is hunt down a group of gijinkas!" The Steel- and Rock-type laughed. "They will fall under the might of MY power- this Phantasmal Beacon!"

At the last two words, two of the guards flanking the man brought out a medium-sized fusebox-looking device, identical to the one in La Ballena.

As the beacon was brought out, the Mienshao's shadow aura became visible, and her eyes glinted brightly.

* * *

Later at around 4:40AM, a pair of figures headed into the Slums. A faint light could be seen on the horizon, indicating the sunrise to come.

Shadier businesses, dealers, and Pokémon in general were out and about, closing down their stores for the night or fixing up last minute things for the next day.

"We're late." Sarah stated as she and Benjamin eyed their surroundings. Onlookers gazed at them- just as dirty as they should be, but the style of their clothes and the fact that they wore their weapons to be seen caught the attention of many.

But not many really did mind the duo passing by.

"We'd best get a move on."

"So, Benjamin, any ideas on how to find them?" The Fennekin asked.

"Asking for directions wouldn't be a smart thing to do here. It would draw too much attention to us." The Fresh Snow replied. "I've drained my magic to get us here quickly, and the purity here is low so magic isn't an option."

"Looks like we'll just have to play it by ear, then."

As the duo walked around, they eavesdropped on conversations about the latest news. The biggest crime syndicate in the city, talk of spies and dealers in Virtue City, strip clubs, gambling joints, drinking parties, and even of a heist on the market the other day.

A Manectric and a Snubull, were chatting about said heist earlier, making it the fourth time the topic came up to the ears of the Glaceon and Fennekin.

"Dude, that Absol had like, this badass sword with her too."

"Yeah. What the fuck was that thing made of, gold?"

"Nah, gold has a sexier look to it. That thing looked pretty shiny but the color was literally shit."

The duo shared a few laughs.

"But to get a Meloetta working for them?"

"You seriously believe that the bitch was real? I'm pretty sure it was a Ditto or a cosplayer or something."

"Maybe. If it is one of those rare chicks who don't mind dressing up as something else, I'd like to get my paws on that."

"Same here, man."

"Who else was with them?"

"Some Jolteon girl with a pair of knuckles and sweet-ass kicks."

"Sweet-ass kicks?"

"Her shoes were just rich, man. Anyone would want to get their hands on stuff like that. It had zippers and shit."

"Whoa, dude, you could hide a fucking knife in there."

"Exactly! Makes ambushes a lot easier."

Eventually, their conversation shifted to different topics unrelated to the heist. But that didn't impede the two gijinkas roaming around the Slums.

"Let's see here…" Sarah mused as she and Benjamin continued walking down a street away from the two they eavesdropped on. More light from the sun was pouring onto the stone floors as more lanterns were snuffed out. "A Jolteon with unique boots, a girl with a peculiar sword, and a Meloetta?"

"Excluding the Meloetta, the sword-wielder and the Jolteon sound close."

"Then there's the man using his hoodie as a bow, a girl casting fire, and a man wielding a polearm with the Water-typing…"

"They've been busy. Let's head for the market stalls." The Fire-type fox suggested.

"Aye. Perhaps they'll know where they went after the battle." Benjamin replied.

Under the rising sun, the duo made their way through the vast Slums to the main market area.

* * *

The sun had risen up and the daytime shops were open with the more ordinary Pokémon appearing around here and there.

"Maybe we could ask nicely?" Sarah quizzed as the duo stood in the market area. Gijinkas were here and there dealing goods.

"I thought you were the one with more experience for places like this than me." The Ice-type responded.

"What, I prefer friendly conversation more than eavesdropping."

With their minds made up, the two headed for one of the stalls underneath a large tent and looked around. A Shelmet looked up from wares and nodded at them.

"Would you have a crude and rusty pistol?" The Fennekin gijinka questioned.

"Eh? Naw, I don't deal many guns here. If yer lookin' fer some firearms, then look for the Fire-type dealers around here. They tend t' have more on the guns depr'tment.

"Okay… Mind if we ask another question?" Benjamin asked.

"Ya just did." The Bug-type responded.

"Oh, well how smart." Sarah mumbled. "We'd like to ask about the recent heist on this place." At that, the Shelmet gijinka nearly spat out a few acids.

"Huh… What do ya wanna know?"

"Would you happen to know where the group who took down the heist crew wandered off to?" Benjamin queried.

"Naw… Not a lot of people know where they went. That's fergotten news now." The Bug-type stated. "Yew two newbies t' the Slums or something? Nobody e'er asks fer people and places so casually like t'at, 'specially in broad daylight. Look, if you really wanna find someone specific, yer gonna need one of them shadier gijinkas around here."

"Thank you for the good advice." The Fennekin responded.

The duo turned to continue looking around the stalls a little longer.

Meanwhile, the Shelmet let out a breath.

" _Why in bloody tarnations did Ah do th't? Who the hell is nice in this place?_ "

But up above, the duo were being watched by a certain character.

There, on the same pillar she sat on to watch the heist, was a girl wearing a simple, dull blue dress.

"Hm… Wonder what those two are doing here." Azul mused to herself. The blue-clad girl stood up and stretched, going strangely unnoticed by all the Pokémon down below. "Might as well see what they're up to…"

The blue girl glanced into the camera and winked before hopping to an adjacent rooftop to stalk the Lausian duo.

* * *

 _[Flashback – Two nights ago]_

"Urk… What the hell…"

" Hmhm~. Can you still keep up?" Azul questioned innocently. The Lucario and Lopunny gijinkas despite the numerous hits they took from blunt force and ball fire, stood up and glared down their opponent.

"Who… What are you? And why are you doing this?" Bridget queried. Russel looked around- the trio were encased in a strange shadowy forcefield. The police lay on the floor drained of their energy, barely conscious.

Bridget, the target, and himself however, were unaffected.

"Mm, just a girl having a little fun." The Nightmare replied. A light giggle followed after, and she glanced towards the east. "Sad to say, I need to be out of here. You two should train up a little more- you were entertaining, but lacking."

"Wait… What are you-"

The large clock behind Azul vanished into thin air, and so did the forcefield. The Pokémon laying on the ground were slowly coming to, and the sky seemed a little brighter- possibly due to the rising sun in the background.

"Well, I'll be taking my leave now. Sayonara, my detective friends."

A dark portal opened at the girl's feet, drowning her in. She gave the duo a smug grin and a giggle before her unevenly tied hair vanished into the darkness.

"What… Just happened?"

* * *

 _So finals were indeed hell. The following week (this week) was supposed to be our sem-break, but given that we had to go to school yesterday(Monday) and today(Tuesday), I doubt we'll have a real sem-break. Was busy with the United Nations' celebration on the former, and the latter was to finish a part of the finals we couldn't do on Friday since we needed to practice for the UN._

 _But now, I have risen from the dead, and will be back to writing and stuff. Well, I actually still have a lot of other non-school things to do and big, big things to prepare for, but I doubt it will seriously kill my ability to write like with school._

 _For those of you who are actually reading this, I cannot thank you enough for your patience… Or your boredom. Or whatever caused you to stay even when I'm doing a slow-ass segment-one rewrite._

 _Some key points will be added to the rewrite, by the way- you might have noticed in the first three chapters._

 _So, whoever is still here, I'd like to ask: Should I put up Chapter Seventeen next, or continue working on the rewrite? I know I said I was going to put this up then get back to that, but I want to hear from you, the readers._

 _And if you're wondering about Azul cosplaying as Kurumi, that won't happen very much. Yes, I'm saying it_ might _happen again, but it's highly unlikely. Also, she does have a species she uses for this story- to be revealed much, much later._

 _Hmm, one last thing. Apparently, I realized only now that I've been lacking sleep for the past 12 or so days. That and the things I need to fix might delay me a bit, but like I said earlier, it shouldn't hamper my writing down too much. Just need a little rest. Actually half-asleep while writing this, hehe…_

 _With that written, I'll be saying my goodbyes for now._

 _Shade, out._


	17. C17 - Assault: The Demon Rider

Shadows in War, Segment Two, Chapter Seventeen – Assault: The Demon Rider

* * *

 _ **Usual disclaimer stuff. I have absolutely nothing to do with the companies that own Pokémon. Nor do I intend to copy anyone's work- the plot and characters are original and they are all I own.**_

 _Yes, I am late by two weeks and an extra two days. Hooray me. I had a fairly busy week last week, this week is chill but… Also somewhat busy, but tomorrow, the "festivities" start. By which I mean we'll be overworked. Again._

 _Plus, this chapter ended up being way longer than I had hoped for. Like, WAY longer. So now you know why the hell this is so late._

 _Oh yeah, I've decided to throw all the notes up here now. I thought I was getting tired of sorting out what to put up here and down there, so yeah._

 _I've got a lot of things to be dealing with over here, so I give my sincerest thanks for those of you who are bearing with this. I apologize once more for the ridiculously late update, but I'm thinking it might be a norm now. I'll see if I can get the next chapter up in 10 days._

 _Decided to throw an important plot element in the "fourth" battle in this chapter. Coincides with the last few lines. Can you spot it? Muehehehe._

* * *

"Just as I'd expect from one of your species."

"Heh, I'm just getting started!"

Diana jumped to evade an arrow shot by Nathan before coming towards him in an Acrobatics attack. The Decidueye brought out his stilleto and began fighting off the mythical Pokémon threatening to strike him down with a super-effective, high powered move.

"They're good." Ken remarked as he took a bite into a loaf of bread in his hands.

"They aren't part of the team for giggles." Taryn responded. Seated on benches lining an open area behind the orphanage were Ken, Taryn, Samantha, Oscar, and a few of the children.

Diana backed off before charging back in with a Poison Jab in her fist. In response, the owl archer created a Haze and vanished into it, forcing the Meloetta to stop right before diving into the smoke.

"See, this is where things get weird. Nathan can't use his Spirit Shackle on Normal-types like her, but two of Diana's moves won't work on Ghost-types."

"They've got limited options."

Diana stepped back to dodge a stab from Nathan's blade. The Meloetta rushed forward and met the Grass-type head on.

Nathan shot multiple Razor Leaves at the attacker before receiving a few blows to his torso from the Fighting-type.

The Ghost-type Pokémon instantly backed away and shot a few regular arrows at the Pirouette. In response, the Normal-type evaded each arrow and moved in with another Poison Jab.

"If Nathan can just keep his distance…" Samantha mused.

The Decidueye cast another Haze and vanished into the smoke. This time however, the Meloetta jumped right in.

After a moment's wait, the smoke cleared, revealing a K.O'd Meloetta gijinka on the floor, multiple arrows on the ground along her, and a triumphant-looking owl archer.

"And that is why you must always be patient in a duel." Nathan mused as he dusted his cloak.

"Uuuuu…" Diana's eyes were now a pair of spiral lines as she looked to the sky. "Darn it."

Cheers erupted from the children for both sides while Taryn walked over to give the defeated Pokémon a hand.

"Oof... I never liked fighting opponents that only attack at range." The Meloetta mumbled.

"Well, then that's a weakness you'll have to learn to deal with." Nathan stated happily. "Although it's impossible for any one person to be prepared for everything, it's nice to prepare for as many things as possible."

"Hurk… You're pretty good, though." Diana smiled back, scratching the back of her head.

"Hmhm. My training when I first joined the Resistance wasn't for nothing."

"Everyone, lunch is ready!" All the gijinkas standing in the field looked to the door to see Lisa waving at them with a serving spoon in hand.

* * *

Some time had passed since the main cast had lunch at the orphanage.

The streets were lined with all sorts of Pokémon trying to get by in the Slums of Driasia. A certain Meloetta and Umbreon gijinka were strolling around, looking at wares and purchasing a few things on a slip of paper- a shopping list given to them by Lisa.

"What else do we need to get?" Ken queried.

"Hmm…" Diana sounded while looking at a paper and walking alongside her Dark-type friend. "Let's see if we can find some better clothes for the children Anything that aren't rags will do as long as it fits their species."

"OK. You know any places?"

"I do, but they definitely aren't the kind of places you'd even tell a little kid about." The Fighting-type Mythical replied.

"Uh… Okay?" Ken decided against prying any further when he saw Diana's mildly embarrassed and slightly downcast expression. Instead, what made him more curious was how she could make a face that would combine the two emotions like that. " _Seriously, how is that possible?_ "

"Uh, Ken-"

"Oof."

The Umbreon shook his head and looked up- it seems he bumped into someone since he wasn't watching where he was going.

"My apologies." Before him stood a Glaceon gijinka with much lighter colors than the usual. A scar on his left cheek and nose were visible, but what stood out was the fact that this man exuded a much different aura than any other Pokémon you'd regularly see in the Slums.

Diana helped the Umbreon up to his feet, eyeing the two Pokémon standing before them.

"Sorry about that, my friend just got clumsy." The Meloetta gijinka said sheepishly while scratching the back of her head. A quick glance at Diana told Ken that she too knew these two were not from around here.

"We're sorry on our end too." A Fennekin gijinka standing at 4'7 responded. She wore a pair of sheaths for blades and a pair of holsters closer to her backside carrying a pair of wheel-lock pistols, similarly to the Glaceon. "Hm… You don't see a Mythical Pokémon around here everyday."

"More like you don't see a Mythical Pokémon irrespective of where you are." The Ice-type Eeveelution followed.

"O-Oh, er, um, she's a cosplayer." Ken quickly said waving his hands.

"Umm, yeah… Ehehe, is it really that good?" Diana added. The nervousness was practically smeared on her face, coupled with her and Ken sweating a little.

"Judging by how nervous you appear to be, you're lying. Your eyes state that as well." The Glaceon stated with a deadpan expression.

"Don't worry. We don't mean any harm." The Fire-type added.

" _Tell that to wearing your weapons out in the open in a place like this._ " Diana mused inwardly. "Uhm, thanks but we're not lying…" The Fighting-type responded. Ken gulped in response and flashed the duo a smile.

"Enough of that. Your presence puts a piece of the puzzle into place." The Shiny Fresh Snow said.

" _I'm seriously being hunted down for my mythical status HERE?_ " The Meloetta thought as she subtly prepared herself to fight.

"You wouldn't happen to be part of the team that took down the heist crew the other day, were you?" The Firefox asked.

"Uh… What team?" Diana queried.

"Heist crew? I can't say I know what you're talking about." Ken added.

The Fennekin looked into the Meloetta's eyes.

"Were you there to see it? We're looking for a few friends of ours." The Fennekin explained. "See, they described our friends along with some Pokémon everyone says they've never seen before or something really rare."

"The character who stuck out the most was an Absol wielding a broadsword with a 'brown blade' who fights ferociously." The Glaceon gijinka said.

"Iiiiiiiiii'm sorry, but I don't know where your friends are." Diana responded. She took a quick glance at Ken- he seemed none the wiser about the situation at hand.

"An Absol with a cool sword…? She's your friend? Why would you be looking for her?" The Umbreon questioned. The Mythical Pokémon standing there internally facepalmed while looking completely calm on the outside.

In a nutshell, she and her new friends were fucked.

"She, huh? Could you tell us more?" The yellow gijinka quizzed.

"You have to give her some credit for asking nicely rather than pointing a gun at your head and a knife at your throat." The Ice-type said. Ken in response took a step back and nearly drew his own katana, but Diana put a hand on his to stop him.

"Ken, they're very strong." The Meloetta whispered into the Dark-type's ear. "I can feel it… We can't fight them alone."

"I'm in no mood for a fight today." The Fennekin said in an annoyed tone. "Look, if you really don't know, just say so, alright?"

"Huh? Benjamin and Sarah?" The four all turned to the source of the voice.

Oscar stood there with a puzzled look. Diana seemed like she was under heavy pressure, Ken looked like he would slash with his sword at any moment, Benjamin was watching them all with a deadpan, and Sarah seemed irritated.

"What are you two doing here?" The Floatzel queried as he walked over. "And what's up with you two…?" The Water-type asked, looking at the Meloetta and Umbreon who clearly didn't belong.

"Oscar?" Sarah returned to her usual cheery self as she saw the orange and cream gijinka approaching.

"The one and only." The lancer said proudly, pointing a thumb to himself.

"W-Wait, you know them?" Diana queried.

"What… Is going on here?" Ken asked.

* * *

"Heh... So that's it."

Azul discarded the leftovers of an apple down into the city, only for someone to subtly pick it up. The girl watched the exchange between the characters down below with her eternal smile.

"I suppose I won't be required around here for a while... 'Sides, I can't hang around here forever." The blue-dressed girl mumbled. "But I don't quite feel like leaving today..."

With a yawn, the girl stretched and watched as the main cast were now headed back to the orphanage.

"Meh, I'll go tomorrow. Since I'll be slacking off again..."

Azul giggled and leaped to another rooftop.

"...Let's see what needs tweaking next."

* * *

"So this is where you've been hiding?" Sarah said as she looked around the orphanage.

"Yep." Oscar stated. At that moment, a mob of small, adorable demons approached the two.

"Hey! Ken brought new friends!"

"I wanna see, I wanna see!"

"Whoa, they have guns!"

"They are not toys!" Benjamin said as he took the grips of both weapons in his hands as the kids began poking at the holsters.

"Don't touch mine, they're sharp!" Sarah exclaimed as she kept the children away from her wheel-locks.

"Check it out, they have a bunch of small bags!"

"What's in them, what's in them!?"

"Hey, move over, I wanna see too!"

"There's a smoke bomb in there, are you daft!?" The Fresh Snow's yells came unheard through the chaos.

"Those are darts! Give them back!" Sarah pleaded as a Pansage examined the sharp objects closely.

"Oh, my…" Ken and Diana looked past the riot at the corner to see a certain Servine gijinka standing there with a hand to her mouth.

"Alright everyone, that's enough!" The children all turned to the voice and ran over to her side, dropping off a bunch of small bags they stripped from Benjamin and Sarah.

Sprawled on the floor were smoke bombs, darts, ammunition, gunpowder, a folding flare gun, a few bottles with pinkish fluids, and even a pair of M2 frag grenades.

Lisa sighed as she lifted both her arms to use Telekinesis and lift all the items back into their bags, making sure that they weren't mixed up.

"It might not be exact, but I hope you'll excuse them…" Lisa said as she lowered her power. "If only a certain _someone_ didn't mix up the ingredients…" The Gardevoir said while casting a gaze towards the Grass-type standing to her left and a gaze to her right, behind the corner.

Taryn came out right afterwards, looking sheepish.

"Ehehe… How was I supposed to tell the difference between that stimulant thing and the powdered chocolates?" The Jolteon mused.

On the other hand, Benjamin and Sarah were both still standing in fear at the bags- they were all still open, but at least organized. One item, however, was still on the floor without a bags as there was no bag that was for that particular item.

A pair of _potentially_ live grenades.

"What a mess…" Sarah said as she began walking forward.

"Well, at least they didn't set anything off." Benjamin said. As Sarah bent down to pick up the two grenades, one of them took the liberty to let a small pin fall off the tip.

The duo opened their eyes wide.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" Sarah exclaimed as the live grenade slipped.

In a panic, Ken, Diana, Oscar, and Taryn all realized what happened and sped forward to grab the grenade and throw it out the window. As the grenade fell out of Sarah's hand with the lever being the last to leave. Taryn managed to get her fingers on the lever before it was let go of completely.

"Whuh…" The Jolteon, Umbreon, Floatzel, and Meloetta all paused, standing in the center of the room blinking their eyes at the live grenade in their hands.

"THROW IT OUT ALREADY!"

"FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK"

"WAIT, WHERE DO I THROW THIS!?"

"WHY ARE YOU ALL SPEAKING IN CAPS!?" Samantha exclaimed as she peered around the corner. What she saw completely baffled her.

Taryn, Ken, and Diana were fighting for control of... Some small, round object in the Electric-type's hand. With a closer look, the firefox realized that it was a grenade.

With the pin pulled.

"…You may continue speaking in caps." Samantha stated as she slowly walked away.

"SAMANTHA AUTUMN, YOU GET YOUR FLUFFY TAIL BACK HERE!" The Jolteon exclaimed.

"THAT THING WILL EXPLODE THROW IT OUT NOW!"

"HURRY, HURRY!"

"BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO THROW THIS THING!"

"What is with all the shouting?" A certain Decidueye asked as he came from the corner as well. He took a few seconds to process four of his friends wrestling like the children around over a small rock.

Realization dawned on the owl archer like he had just smoked weed.

"SQUAWK!" Nathan instantly ran over to join the mess of Pokémon fighting for the grenade.

"NATHAN HELP ME GET THAT GRENADE!"

"IT'S GONNA BLOW!"

"JUST THROW IT OUT ALREADY!"

"OH, ARCEUS, OH ARCEUS!"

"IT'S ALREADY BEEN LONG PAST THE FIVE SECOND FUSE TIMER!" Sarah exclaimed, knowing she used caps lock.

"Hold that lever on the grenade!" Benjamin added. "That is your life!"

The five Pokémon struggling for control of the grenade did not heed the warnings. Within the next three seconds, the grenade fell out of Taryn's grip, releasing the lever.

With a few clicks, the grenade dropped to the ground.

"PICK IT UP!"

"IT'S GOING TO BLOW FOR REAL THIS TIME!"

"SQUAWK SQUAWK!"

"DUCK AND COVEEEEEEER!"

In that instant, a white blur sped past all of them. With the blur, the explosive vanished, leaving behind trace silhouettes of the blur.

It detailed a rather irritated looking Absol gijinka running at full speed.

The Pokémon all standing there slowly looked out to the door that just flew open behind Samantha.

The firefox stood there, mortified at what just happened. From behind her in the courtyard, an explosion coated everything in sight outside.

The Braixen gijinka gulped and slowly turned around to face the crater.

There, standing in a small black crater was a certain Angel with a bored look on her face. Her clothes were slightly torn, but overall, she seemed fine.

"Idiots…" The Dark-type mused as she walked over and shut the door behind her.

"A-Angel…?" Oscar worded out.

"S-Squawk…"

"W-Wha…"

"Bullshit."

"Mercy…"

"Oh good, they aren't using caps lock anymore." Benjamin remarked.

"Uh… Kids… Could you go to the room for now?" Lisa asked. The children all slowly turned their gazes to a gijinka clad in white standing with pure red eyes. The temperature in the surrounding area dropped by a few degrees quickly, and the Absol exuded an aura of menace around her.

Without a word, the children all ran upstairs as if their lives depended on it.

"We were so not ready for that." Sarah stated simply.

"Again… Idiots." Angel stated as the menacing aura around her dissipated and the temperature returned to normal. A shining black gem in her hand vanished into thin air.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Well, it's over now. And technically, no one was hurt." Benjamin said. "If my mother were here, I would receive quite a lecture."

"This is why you don't bring battle equipment to an orphanage… Well, should've known we'd be coming to a place like this."

The Dark-type sighed internally before heading towards the classroom with a shoulder bag.

Silence followed between the Glaceon, Fennekin, Decidueye, Jolteon, Floatzel, Umbreon, Meloetta, Gardevoir, Servine, and Braixen.

"Squawk."

* * *

The main cast, the orphanage's three oldest Pokémon, and two seafarers sat around a table having tea. They all sat around, introducing one another, explaining their situation to the Shiny Glaceon and his Fennekin partner, and made small talk.

"Sarah, do you think it's about time we told everyone?" The Ice-type questioned.

"Yes, I think we should." The Fennekin replied. She sipped a little berry juice. "But I don't think we should discuss it in front of an entire orphanage."

"Yes, indeed."

"What is it?" Nathan queried as he took a sip of his tea. The Decidueye seemed like his usual self again, as if earlier's events never occurred.

With a nod from Angel, Lisa and her two teenaged friends left the table with their tea and called the children over to the classroom.

"Hm, where to start… Ah, yes." The Glaceon sipped his tea. "You're being hunted."

"You're not being hunted by just any Periculum band or mercenaries. You're being hunted by a Pokémon from Project F."

At that, the room fell silent, save for the distant cheers of the orphans in the other room.

"And I quote this: One does not simply take out a Project F Pokémon." The Fennekin finished.

"We fought against Mirsinus together, remember? That guy nearly killed our General, for crying out loud." Oscar responded.

"And before that, we had to duel against that Shadow Electivire in the big ship too." Taryn added.

"Urf, thinking about that still gives me chills…"

"If it really does give you the chills, keep your guards up. They could strike at any moment. They could be eyeing us as we speak." Benjamin stated. At that, the Resistance team all looked around carefully, with Samantha taking a peek into the classroom.

"Hold it." Angel stated, gaining everyone's attention. "Where did you get this information?"

"If you have quick hands with a keyboard, see a computer with a crapton of files of great secrecy, you'd want to grab them, don't you?" The Fennekin asked.

"Don't dance around it- just give us our answer." Nathan responded.

"Back in the Periculum base." Benjamin answered. "Tobias read it off to us, and we went out to warn you."

"Us in particular?" The Braixen quizzed, earning a nod from the Fennekin.

"Apparently, in Periculum's book, you've made quite the names for yourself already."

"Hm… But why us, and not against Ethan? He led the entire operation. We're just another team within the Resistance." Nathan mused.

"Heh, they've probably figured out how badass we are." Oscar responded.

"But for them to send something that strong, just for us?" The Jolteon asked.

"Why would they spend a lot of effort for a random team?" Diana asked.

"That's what we would like to know." The Shiny Glaceon gijinka said.

"Hm… If what you said is true, then we're in grave danger." Angel said, earning a few "no shit" looks. "The two we fought before were likely in their prototype stages- they didn't seem to have the intellectual capacity the files said they would." The Absol explained. "If they are sending a real Project F Pokémon at us, then it will be one who can adapt to the situation, plan ahead for possible outcomes, and even blend in with the crowd."

"…When you put it that way, we're a lot more screwed than we already were." The Water-type lancer said.

"Then… It won't just be a contest of strength, but also of wits." The owl archer stated as he put his empty cup down.

"Hunh… Do you guys have any idea what kind of guy they sent after us?" The Electric-type gijinka queried the Ice-type Eeveelution and the lower-staged firefox.

"We don't know." Sarah answered.

"Well, isn't that just peachy. So what do we do?" The Floatzel questioned.

"Well… We'll have to try to figure out how close they are to us." The Grass- and Ghost-type began. "For all we know, they could be in the West region. They may still believe we are there."

"That means that we'll be safe in here, right?" Diana asked.

"We were supposed to hide here until any traces of suspicion wore off. Until Periculum knew we vanished into the crowds again. But now this…?" Samantha mused. "I don't want to be stuck here in the Slums for too long."

"Knowing the estimated time they've spent looking, I'm pretty sure they would have traced you here by now." Sarah said.

"…You two were asking people around for us, right?" Diana quizzed. As realization hit, Nathan and Angel both twitched in response.

"What? I like friendly conversations more than eavesdropping on people."

"It was nice knowing all of you." The Floatzel spearman said.

"Someone may already have followed you here… And they're likely planning an attack at this moment." Angel stated with a touch of irritation in her voice. "All because you don't know how to move about in places like these."

"Don't start quitting on anyone just yet." Benjamin stated. "Sarah, don't you think the people we talked to were quite friendly for places like this?"

"I DID live in the slums for some of my childhood, and yeah, these guys are way too friendly."

"Yeah… I figure that's bullshit for people to be nice in the Slums like we were earlier." Diana stated, earning an approving nod from Taryn.

"Nobody in the Slums is nice, no matter what. That is final around here." The yellow gijinka said. "Either you guys have some stupidly good luck or it was some miracle."

"Maybe we really were just lucky." Sarah stated.

"That, or maybe it's just that you're too cute." Benjamin added.

"Impossible. You'd get the creeps coming at you. Nobody is nice in the Slums." Diana stated.

"Go figure, coming from the girl who does have to deal with all that…"

The Pokémon talked on for two more hours about plans for their hunters and about their experiences with poorer areas and shadier areas. The sun was going down now, and the lights and lamps were being lit.

* * *

The following morning was fairly uneventful. Benjamin and Sarah offered to stay at the orphanage while the main cast would go look for something to make them recognized by at least five people.

" _Remember- you have four days. If all of you can succeed, then this thing'll work. Sounds crazy, but you'll just have to trust me on this one._ "

Remembering the strange girl's words, the resistance team walked around the vast Slums separately.

Hours went by- Samantha offered to work as a cook in some places, Taryn got into a few deals, Nathan decided to try being a mercenary for a while, Oscar tried working on supplying shops, while Diana decided to try working at a bar.

After calling it a day during the afternoon, the team decided to meet up at an eatery to take a break.

"Two days left." Nathan said. "How is everyone doing so far?"

Mixed reactions came from the group. For the most part, they didn't seem to be doing too well.

"Hmm, I managed to get in a few jobs. I'll be running off at night, though." The Jolteon seemed fairly pleased.

"And the rest of you…?"

"It was troubling, getting molested at every turn." Both the firefox and Pirouette responded. With a sigh, the owl archer moved onto the Floatzel's case.

"I'll just be frank: I have done absolutely nothing productive all day." The Water-type stated.

"So what about you, hotshot?" Taryn queried. The owl archer paused for a moment to think.

"Being a mercenary is fairly fun. But being new sucks." The Grass-type began. "There's plenty of different things you could end up doing, but not a lot of people notice you when you don't have much of a record."

"Is that so?" Samantha asked.

"So what about Angel? Did you go with her?" Diana questioned. The Decidueye shook his head in response.

"I was on my own for this one. I haven't seen Angel since this morning." The Ghost-type replied.

"She must be doing those odd jobs again." Oscar remarked.

"Maybe you could ask her about what jobs a beginner should take." Diana suggested.

"Maybe."

* * *

"Ah, it feels relaxing to be able to breathe fresh air again!"

Samantha plopped down onto the grass under the blue sky. About four-hundred meters behind them was the Slums, with its mild orange glow.

"You said it. The air there is just thick." Oscar added.

Deciding to have a little fresh air after spending a few days in the Slums, the group decided to set out for the fields outside and stay for a little while.

"It's been so long since I've gotten air like this." Diana said.

"Oh yeah, since you lived in there, right?" The Jolteon gijinka queried, getting a nod out of the Mythical Pokémon.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the edge of a cliff not very far off from the main cast…

"Sir, we've spotted a small group of Pokémon just outside the Slums."

The Probopass gijinka stroked his mustache with an ugly smile. He then stood up from his throne-like seat and walked closer to the cliff.

One of the servant Pokémon handed the large man a pair of binoculars.

"Nyo-ho-ho! We've got ourselves quite the catch, gentlemen!" The Rock-type exclaimed. "We can use them as punching bags for our new friend. And if those girls over there live, I'll start my own harem!"

The man cackled for a few moments before coughing.

The Mienshao gijinka standing there, observing the main cast, however, didn't seem to notice her master's existence.

" _I've never seen nor heard of a Pokémon that looks like that… Perhaps they may entertain me yet._ " The woman licked her lips in anticipation of the coming events.

* * *

"Hold on."

The original four members of the Resistance team looked to the Meloetta.

"What's up?"

"Someone is watching us."

"Think it's just Angel or Azul?" Samantha questioned. The Fighting-type shook her head.

"No. This presence… It's like whoever is out there… Wants to kill us."

"Eh… You aren't playing with us, are you?"

"Perks to being a Mythical Pokémon." The Pirouette Pokémon replied. "Everyone, stay alert."

"Quick, get back to the Slums. I'll watch our backs." The Arrow Quill Pokémon suggested.

Deciding to trust Diana, the team all got up and drew their weapons- Samantha, her stick, Taryn, her claws and buckler, Oscar, his spear and buckler, and Nathan, an arrow.

They began moving towards the Slums carefully. Each of them scanned the area around them with their senses, but couldn't detect anything.

"Diana, where is it coming from?" The Decidueye questioned.

"I-I don't know… But it's coming closer!"

"We'd better hurry."

Suddenly, the group came to a halt as the earth before them blew up in smoke. Nathan instantly turned around and drew the arrow on his hoodie string.

The smoke cleared, revealing a woman standing at 5'9 (175cm) with her arm outstretched towards the ground and one knee bent downwards. She donned a lilac-colored side slit dress with sleeves that were twice as long as her own arms. A long, thin tail extended behind her, and she wore slippers with stands underneath the soles. Long light purple hair bound by ribbons in a low ponytail reached down to the woman's backside, and her face was lowered.

The woman raised her head to look at the main cast- piercing red eyes with a purple glint on a sharp face.

A dark purplish aura began to envelop the woman as she slowly stood up. She glared down the Resistance team with hate.

"W-Who…"

"Back off, now!"

At the archer's command, everyone stepped back, and in Oscar's case, he blocked with his spear. The Pokémon standing before them lunged out in a Dual Chop attack at them, before leaping back.

"Strong… Good. I hate boring opponents who can do naught but beg."

"That purple glint… Isn't it just like..."

"It's a Shadow Pokémon!"

"H-Hey, don't tell me she's the Project F Pokémon sent after us…"

The Mienshao gijinka raised a brow for just a moment before standing up straight and smiling cruelly.

"So you know about Project Fates? Hm… Then I shall honor you with an introduction before I kill you all." The shadow Fighting-type took a step forward. "I am Cythereia the Demon, Rider-class soldier. And I will be the last thing you see."

"There isn't any running from this one, guys. She's fast enough to outspeed everyone here but me." The Electric-type stated.

"Then we'll just have to fight!"

 **[Boss – Cythereia the Demon]**

The Rider-classed Pokémon raised an arm upwards. The shadowy aura enveloping her condensed itself and began to gather in her hand.

"Shadow Wave!" Cythereia exclaimed.

Waves of hate and wrath slammed into all five of the defenders, earning screams of agony, especially from Nathan and Diana who had more than one type.

"Augh!"

Taryn tripped onto the ground from a Low Sweep from the Fighting-type. Following that, boulders began raining out of portals above the group.

"Shield us from harm!" Samantha exclaimed as she threw up a white gem that enveloped her allies and herself within a cobalt barrier that nullified the impacts of the rocks.

The Electric-type shakily got back on her feet with Oscar's aid.

"She's fast… Like, really fast." The Jolteon coughed.

"Can you still stand?" Nathan queried.

"With an Agility, yeah."

The Protect dissipated right after the boulders stopped raining. Cythereia watched them carefully, as if trying to predict their next move.

"Samantha, with me!" The Decidueye exclaimed as he drew three arrows on his hoodie strings.

Understanding the gesture, the Braixen created a small flame on the tip of her stick.

"We'll keep her busy!" Diana rushed forward backed up by Oscar, while Taryn vanished with Agility.

" _Fools._ " The Shadow Pokémon thought as she summoned up more shadow energy in her palms.

In response to the gesture, the Meloetta and Floatzel gijinkas both swerved to either side to evade another attack. However, the waves never came.

Cythereia gained a sadistic smile as the shadow energy erupted around her body and she charged forward just in time to slam into a certain eeveelution.

"AGH!"

"Taryn! Dammit, you're going to pay for that one!" Oscar exclaimed as his spear cloaked in aquatic power. The Water-type headed straight for the Mienshao.

On the other hand, the Mythical Pokémon scanned her surroundings- and sprinted for Taryn.

"Ugh… How…?"

"Hang in there! I'll bring you away from her while she's distracted."

"Please do… I could use a Potion right about now."

Meanwhile with the archer and fire mage, they were both taking their time aiming down carefully.

"On my mark…" The owl archer mused.

"Ready." Samantha replied.

Oscar's attack missed its mark and in kind, the orange gijinka was struck down by two brutal strikes from the Project F subject.

"Now!"

The Grass- and Ghost-type shot all three arrows and quickly drew three more. The Braixen on the other hand shot small embers at the arrows to set them ablaze.

Cythereia intercepted the projectiles with multiple Shadow Waves, which opened her to a Brick Break from Diana.

"You have a lot more attack power than you let on." Cythereia stated as she sent a few slaps and kicks the Meloetta's way, forcing the latter to dodge. "What kind of Pokémon are you?"

"One that you don't need to know about." The Mythical responded.

"Diana, dodge it!" Oscar's voice shouted across the battlefield. The Meloetta spared a glance behind her opponent to see a large, pulsing orb of water headed straight for her.

With poison in her fist, the Normal-type punched the Rider and backed off. Cythereia only had the time to look before the Sea Weasel's attack struck her.

"Alright, that should do it." Oscar mused.

Their target was drenched but otherwise seemed fine despite the hits she took.

"That would have made anyone stagger…" Samantha trailed off as she observed the Mienshao gijinka do a hair flip. Rider's smile depicted a twisted form of enjoyment from taking that damage.

"Do you really think little tricks like that will do anything against me?"

Shadow Waves were aimed at Oscar. The Floatzel, knowing he couldn't dodge in time, blocked with his buckler and spear but to no avail as the waves struck him head on, dealing plenty of super-effective damage to him.

Meanwhile, the Jolteon was drinking a Potion while watching the battle unfold. Samantha and Nathan were now running forward. Diana was looking around the battlefield.

"There's got to be some way to beat this girl…" The Electric-type mused. " _If only Angel was here… But she can't be fighting for us forever._ "

A Psybeam connected with Cythereia's torso, forcing the Mienshao back by a meter. The Fighting-type glanced over to the Braixen preparing to shoot a Shock Wave, while the Decidueye was preparing an arrow with ghostly energy.

Sensing what was up, the Shadow Pokémon smirked and Bounced up into the air, managing to evade the Spirit Shackle but not the Shock Wave. Despite the move landing a direct hit, the Demon Rider seemed unfazed at best.

"I'll go get Oscar back up!" The Fire-type yelled as she sprinted for the downed Water-type.

"Diana, I trust you can protect her?"

"We're both weak to Flying-type moves, which is kinda convenient." The Meloetta remarked as she followed after the Braixen.

Nathan grinned for a moment before shooting a few arrows at the Mienshao gijinka coming down for the attack. Though four of them hit her, she didn't seem to mind and continued on her way down as if the attacks never hit.

"Look out!"

"Shit."

The Normal- and Fighting-type shoved the Braixen mage out of the way just in a nick of time only to take the full grunt of the attack.

With a grin, Cythereia coated herself in a shadowy aura before kicking down on Diana, eliciting a cry of agony from the Mythical Pokémon.

"D-Diana!"

"That's enough of that!"

A barrage of sharp leaves struck the Martial Arts Pokémon from behind, earning her attention.

Nathan Shaw stood defiantly across the battlefield, preparing to shoot a Spirit Shackle.

Cythereia sidestepped to her left to evade the arrow and shot multiple Shadow Waves Nathan's way. The owl archer dodged the moves with a jump, which allowed the Rider to close in with Dual Chop.

"Stay away from him!"

Flamethrower struck the Mienshao's back, but that didn't impede her progress. Dual Chop sent Nathan flying back a few meters.

"Miss me?"

A Thunderbolt dropped down on Cythereia from above.

"So you yet live?" The Rider queried as she Bounced up and cloaked herself in a shadowy aura.

"Yeah, but you won't be for long! Samantha, now's your chance!"

The Braixen looked up to the sky to see her friend exchanging scratches with her claws to kicks and slaps from the Shadow Pokémon. She quickly looked to her allies- Oscar and Nathan were both slowly getting up, but Diana seemed much worse than Taryn did earlier.

Back in the air, Taryn disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving the Mienshao to land safely. However, the moment she did, an explosion sent her to a knee from super-effective force.

"What…"

"How do you like my Stored Power?"

The Mienshao clutched her head in pain before letting out a yell into the air.

The Resistance team, now regrouped and healed of their injuries watched as a reddish velvet aura began to form around their opponent.

With a growl, she slowly got onto her feet and turned around slowly.

"Drain away our strength, Shadow Half!"

Violet and black clouds surrounded all the Pokémon in the area. All those caught within began to lose their strength.

"W-What is this…?"

"Ah… It's like it's sucking out my life!"

After a moment, the clouds dissipated, leaving everyone looking rather worn down.

Almost as if they had lost half their health.

"This… It's like being hit by a Super Fang." Taryn stated. "That attack, Shadow Half, I think it only cuts down our health to half if it's just like that."

"So while it can't really defeat us…"

"…It will weaken us."

"Shadow Wave!"

The waves came at the Resistance team again.

"On my mark, get ready to jump or duck!" The Grass- and Ghost-type commanded. "Three, two, one, GO!"

Everyone had evaded the attack, luckily and got back on their feet.

"What is that aura around her?" The Meloetta gijinka quizzed.

"This is just like that fight with Mirsinus…"

"Didn't he call it Reverse Mode or something?"

Cythereia the Demon evaded the massive projectile with ease and shot forward with her body emitting more of the new color.

"That's the Shadow Tackle thing!"

"Shadow Rush!"

"Right, that."

Oscar, together with Diana, countered the blow with a combined Liquidation and Poison Jab. The three Pokémon were locked into a stalemate at first, but it quickly became evident that the Project F Pokémon would win.

"Take this!" Taryn yelled as she landed a few hits on the Demon with her claws, followed by a point-blank Shadow Ball.

"Don't leave me out." Nathan stated as he shot at Cythereia repeatedly with burning arrows, courtesy of the team's Braixen.

"Urk… She seriously isn't feeling all that!?" Oscar exclaimed as he and the Meloetta struggled to hold off the Shadow Rush.

"If that won't make her drop, I don't know what will!" The Normal-type added. "Oscar, we need to back off, now!"

"Ready? Go!"

The duo sidestepped out of the way on opposite directions, causing the Shadow Pokémon to tackle forward into the air.

"You're open!" The Electric-type eeveelution exclaimed as she used Agility to get some air and then fire off multiple energy orbs down at the Fighting-type.

"My turn!" Samantha exclaimed as she shot Psybeam at the Demon.

Cythereia let out a rage-filled scream before sending a large amount of Shadow Waves at the team.

The owl archer and fox mage were far enough to dodge, but the same could not be said for their friends. The eeveelution hacker, the water spearman and the mythical dancer all fell to the ground with cries of agony.

"No!"

"Urk… We're going to run out of Potions really soon." Samantha commented as she took out three more bottles and tossed them to her allies while Nathan shot a few Spirit Shackle arrows to keep Cythereia from moving.

Diana got up with a groan, as did Taryn and Oscar.

"I don't think we can keep this up much longer." The Pirouette Pokémon mused.

"But we have to find some way to get rid of her…" The Water-type dressed in orange replied.

"Die, die, die, die, die!" Cythereia yelled at the top of her lungs as the red aura surged forward, creating plenty more waves of hatred.

"She isn't using ordinary moves anymore." Nathan said. "Urk… What the hell CAN we do?"

Samantha threw brownish gem that almost seemed more like rock than precious stone. The item exploded in midair, causing a large shield to form around the Resistance team to keep away the shadow-type moves.

"Time for a follow up…" Samantha mused as she charged psychic energy into her stick. The mage then shot off the Psybeam aimed at Rider's head, which seemed to stagger the target.

"I'm not giving up yet!" The Sea Weasel gijinka exclaimed as he slashed at Cythereia twice with his spear.

"Neither am I!"

A Brick Break followed, causing the Mienshao to grunt.

"Try this on for size!" A certain Jolteon yelled as a Thunderbolt dropped down on the Shadow Pokémon.

"Back away, the Spirit Shackle's time is up!"

But Nathan was too late, and the Demon broke free to grab Oscar and send a few Shadow Waves across his torso at point blank.

"OSCAR!"

His body lay in a heap on the grass, still emitting a little dark purplish and red smoke. The Water-type groaned as he took one last look at his opponent before passing out.

The Martial Arts Pokémon let out a scream as she charged towards Diana with an aura of negativity surrounding her.

"This is going to hurt…!"

Diana spun and sent a Brick Break onto the Mienshao's head right as the Shadow Rush was about to hit her. The Meloetta grit her teeth and kept up the pressure, attempting to ward off the enemy with just her fist.

Before Cythereia could attack again, a Shock Wave and Shadow Ball struck her, sending the lilac gijinka flying across the field.

"She's finally taking damage for real." The Braixen remarked.

"Guys, keep me covered, I'm going to check on Oscar!"

"Roger!" The Decidueye responded as he rushed forward to shoot a few arrows at the Shadow Pokémon shakily getting to her feet.

"Ah, she wasn't kidding when she said this would be so FUN!" Cythereia roared, slammed her fist down onto the ground, creating the same dark clouds around all conscious Pokémon in the area.

"Not this again…"

Taryn, on the other hand, pushed through the pain of having her energy cut in half and ran to the side of her fallen friend.

"Oscar, please tell me you're alive!"

The Floatzel groaned, but otherwise didn't get up. The Jolteon breathed a sigh of relief at finding out her friend was indeed alive, and because the Shadow Half dissipated.

"You really scared me for a moment there, you dick…"

A pained scream sounded from behind her. Taryn turned around to find that Samantha flying back whilst emitting smoke. Nathan was fighting the opponent head on once more with his blade, and Diana didn't look like she could fight for much longer.

"There's got to be some way out of this…" The Electric-type mumbled.

"So this is how strong you said those Shadow Pokémon were…" Diana coughed out a little blood. "I would've joined the Resistance a long time ago if I knew Periculum was in the business of making monsters."

On the other side of the field, the Braixen managed to get up on one knee to just sit there and watch her Decidueye friend fight against an opponent who obviously had much more skill in fighting hand-to-hand.

"Na… than…"

"Urk… Gah!"

The archer clenched his teeth as the Mienshao managed to slap him with her sleeve. Before he could react, he was blasted by a Shadow Rush.

Nathan was sent back by a few meters. Cythereia then charged a large amount of dark aura within her palms and condensed it into waves, looking down at the defeated Decidueye.

"NO!" The Fire-type Pokémon screamed.

A yell caught Rider's attention. When she turned around, Stored Power blasted away at her.

"Grr…" The Fighting-type shivered in pain. Her body was coated in cuts, scrapes, bruises, and burns, and she looked like she too would fall soon.

"Taryn…"

"Take this!"

The Jolteon gijinka let a Thunderbolt loose at Cythereia, then sped away with Agility to dodge the coming waves.

Nextly, the eeveelution fired off more orbs of energy before sending a Shadow Ball at the opponent.

" _If I can just keep my distance…_ " She thought to herself while speeding around with Agility. Her muscles burned with pain from all the damage she's taken and the strength that was drained.

"Just die already!" The lilac dressed Pokémon began charging the Electric-type.

" _Come on… Just a little more!_ "

With Agility, the Jolteon easily kept away from the Mienshao and continued firing off Stored Power at the foe. Finally, Cythereia let out a scream before letting loose a massive amount of Shadow Waves in Taryn's direction. A literal wall of waves came straight for the yellow gijinka.

" _No…_ " Time seemed to slow down as the attack approached the Jolteon.

"Taryn!" Diana fell to the ground, unable to do anything but watch as her friend was about to be killed.

"Taryn, get out of there!" Samantha screamed with all her strength.

" _All of our efforts… It won't be for anything if this hits._ " The Jolteon thought. " _I have to find a way… Any way…_ "

* * *

The sun was beginning to set on Driasia. In the Slums at the Center, the streets and buildings were all as packed as usual. The usual day and night shifts of stores and services were beginning to kick in, signaling more Pokémon to show up.

However, one building was lacking in five Pokémon.

"Oi, Sarah. Doesn't it seem we're short on several Pokémon?" Benjamin questioned.

"Yeah… I don't know, maybe Angel knows where they are."

"Hm?" The Absol looked up from a book to face the Shiny Glaceon and Fennekin gijinkas.

"Would you happen to know where everyone else went?" The sea captain asked. Angel shook her head in response before looking back down to her book.

"Well, would you mind helping us look for them? You are part of their team, aren't you?" Sarah queried. The Dark-type paused before nodding and putting her book down.

"Alright, let's head out."

* * *

"Weird, one of them should be back by now. I don't think looking for a job should be this hard for all of them." The Fire-type mused.

"Keep your hopes up that we'll find them- worry we will when gone has a day."

Angel followed the duo silently. Her brow furrowed at Benjamin's manner of speaking, but only for a moment. Subtly, she was looking around and listening to everyone else around them, to see if she could get any traces of her allies.

After a short while passed of uneventful strolling, Angel suddenly stopped cold in her tracks.

Noticing this due to his heightened senses, Benjamin motioned for Sarah to stop and turned around.

"Hm?"

Angel stood there silently like a statue- which was uncharacteristic of her. She was known for being quiet, but never like a statue… Unless she was admiring a view.

" _This feeling… It's just like…_ "

The Absol's red eyes widened in shock as realization dawned on her. She instantly sped past Benjamin and Sarah, headed south.

"Whoa! Uh, Benjamin, should we chase after her?" Sarah asked.

"Judging by the way she ran past us, aye. We best do so."

* * *

"T-Taryn…" Samantha crawled on the grass to reach the smoke that was at least 20 meters away from her. Diana only sat there, dazed, while Nathan was barely staying conscious and Oscar was still out.

"G-Guh… Ah…" Cythereia's red aura dissipated and she fell to her knees and hands. The Mienshao panted heavily and looked up to see her work.

There wasn't even a body. Where the Shadow Wave wall passed, nothing of the Jolteon was left.

Upon seeing the situation up ahead, Samantha's eyes widened. The Braixen stopped moving and lowered her head. Using whatever strength she had, she hit the ground.

"Taryn…" Nathan trailed off.

"I can't move…" Diana groaned.

Cythereia got to one knee and grinned.

"Haha… Hahahahahahaha!" The Fighting-type cackled like a maniac at the sight. "Finally, an enemy worthy of my full strength… Too bad she didn't live, though! And now… You'll be next!" The Demon turned around to face the four downed Pokémon.

Slowly, the Mienshao gijinka approached the four members. Closer, she drew, with a large amount of negativity charged into her hand in the form of aura.

"It's been fun… But your story ends here."

The sound of an explosion from behind earned everyone's attention. Everyone's eyes widened at the sight.

"I'm not done just yet!"

There, in the air, was Taryn Bailey, looking worse for wear from the fight, but very much alive. Her body crackled with electricity, and she let loose a great Thunderbolt at the Rider trapped in shock.

Cythereia screamed in agony. As the attack stopped, she turned to glare down her opponent.

"How… How!? You're supposed to be DEAD!"

"Taryn… You're alive!"

The yellow gijinka took a deep breath as she sped forward with Agility and began fighting hand-to-hand with her claws.

"Yeah, well, I'm not that easy to kill!" The Electric-type eeveelution retorted.

Cythereia groaned as the claws raked at her body, then let out one more scream. The red colors vanished from her aura, and her eyes shone purple.

Taryn took this as a sign to back off, right as Cythereia unleashed a Reversal attack where she was just standing.

The Jolteon panted and clutched her left leg with one arm. She looked up to see Cythereia raising her arm to open portals up above with the tips of boulders visible.

"Taryn, look out!" Diana exclaimed.

Without a second thought, Taryn suddenly burrowed into the ground and closed up the hole before the boulders even hit the ground.

"What the hell, she knows FIVE moves!?" Cythereia exclaimed.

"Just now, that was… Dig, wasn't it?" The Braixen mused.

The Demon took a blow from behind as Taryn resurfaced. The Jolteon shot a few more energy orbs charged by her Agility, then sent a clawed punch the Fighting-type's way.

Cythereia cried out in pain as she got knocked back by the faster opponent.

"Hah… Hah… Had enough yet?" The Electric-type asked. The Mienshao struggled to get up, hate burning in her eyes, but could no longer move.

"Damn you…" Cythereia said before closing her eyes and letting exhaustion finally win.

"We… Won." The Lightning Pokémon dropped to her knees and clutched one arm with the other. "We're all still alive…"

"Urgh… Can anyone here still use a Potion?" Samantha asked. "I've only got two left."

"I think my body will still let me take one more right now." Diana responded.

"NOOOOOOO!" The girls' attention was caught from the sound. "You… You insolent little wimps!"

They looked to the source of the noise to see a huge, fat man standing there. Platinum-colored clothes, big red boots, a nose just as big, bushy mustache to go with it and a big metal hat.

"I will just have to finish you off myself!" The Probopass gijinka began charging a glowing orb before him.

A ray of light that sparkled like gems shot from the orb aimed straight for Taryn. The Jolteon, having no strength left to fight shut her eyes tightly, awaiting the inevitable end.

...which never came.

"H-Huh…?"

"I'm going to need these Pokémon alive." A familiar cold voice stated from in front of her.

"A-Angel…"

"Sorry we're late!" Sarah stated.

"Hmph… He's weak enough. I want you two to treat our companions. I'll take him down myself." The Absol gijinka ordered. Benjamin and Sarah nodded and headed over to the others.

"Looks like we're saved." Diana mused as Sarah came over to her and Samantha.

"You guys could've gotten here sooner…" The Braixen trailed off. "Where the hell were you thirteen minutes ago?"

 **[Boss - Probopass]**

"Get out of my way!" The Steel-type shot another Power Gem, this time towards Angel. The Dark-type dodged it with ease.

The white gijinka let loose a white beam that while cold, only seemed to increase the target's temper.

"I'm going to kill all of you!"

Another shining ray flew past the Dark-type.

" _Defenses seem ordinary… He isn't high on anything._ " Angel thought as she closed in with Night Slash.

Now that she was closer, the Compass Pokémon took the liberty to launch steel bombs. The projectiles rapidly approached the Absol to stick themselves to her.

" _Magnet Bomb._ " The Disaster Pokémon braced herself for the impact.

Once the smoke cleared, Angel brushed off the damage like it was nothing and turned to face her opponent.

The Probopass gijinka was fleeing with all his might at a speed that was actually impressive given his species, let alone how fat he was.

"W-What the hell, that bastard can run…" Taryn groaned.

Angel narrowed her eyes and closed in once more while shooting orbs of ghostly energy. Her foe responded by shooting Power Gem after Power Gem, despite the numerous small scratches he was taking/

"He's much too overconfident in his defensive abilities." Benjamin commented as he finished dragging a knocked out Oscar over to the group. "It would seem that Angel plans to wither away at his strength."

The Absol backed off before she could come in range of the Magnet Bombs, then shot a focused Shadow Ball aimed at the Probopass' big head. Using the opportunity, she sprinted forward as her sword emitted a dark energy.

However, the Rock-type was unharmed by the Shadow Balls and the Night Slash. Angel stepped back immediately upon seeing the bright bluish green shield that formed around the man.

"You can't hurt me!" The Steel- and Rock-type exclaimed before sending off more bombs at Angel.

The Dark-type shot a few down with Ice Beam to reduce the number of projectiles that would strike her.

From the smoke, she charged forward with a Night Slash, only to run into Protect once again. The shield dissipated before the Dark-type could pull away, causing her to fall backwards and the enemy to create distance once more.

"What a cheap prick…" Taryn mumbled whilst being treated by the Shiny Glaceon and Fennekin.

"Grr… Why won't you just stay still!?" The Probopass exclaimed firing Power Gems.

Angel deftly weaved through each attack, occasionally stopping to shoot an Ice Beam or Shadow Ball the Probopass' way.

"Then maybe you could stand still." Angel replied as she vanished and in her place, multiple copies of her stood. The clones all began to move about, some shooting feints but most of them surrounding the Probopass.

"Rrgh…!"

The Probopass began shooting weaker rays to compensate for the fact that he attempted to shoot every single clone down all at once. In that opportunity, one of the Absols rushed forward with her sword.

A Protect kept the defender safe from the attack, but only ended up wasting the move as the Angel that rushed him was only a clone.

"Big mistake."

The feeling of slashing made the Probopass stumble and fall onto the ground. In the next moment, he was being repeatedly struck by several blows from Angel's sword.

"Now she's got it."

Angel's opponent finally got back up despite the onslaught of cuts, and fired off a close-ranged Power Gem at the girl in question.

Angel blocked with Ice Beam, then backed off to avoid the rest of the attack.

The Probopass quickly threw up another Protect, stopping another Night Slash from connecting.

Steel orbs formed in the air surrounding the duo, and the Absol once again readied herself for the impact.

With opportunity given from the amount of projectiles, the fat man once again began running away while creating more magnet bombs around him.

Angel swung her sword to dispel some of the bombs allowing her to pursue the fleeing Steel- and Rock-type.

The battle wore on for about two thirds of an hour. Eventually, the Probopass began to show signs of exhaustion at fighting just Angel, while the latter looked like she was only just beginning.

"You… Damn you to hell!" The fat man screamed as he shot a much wider ray at Angel.

The Dark-type took a defending stance and held her ground as the attack hit her head on. Angel only sighed once the four second attack ended, and charged forward to slash at the Probopass.

"But I'm the best… No one is supposed to be able to beat me… Some pretty little girl is going to defeat me, here, after her friends defeated the monster that I bought!?"

"This will be your end."

The Probopass yelled as he was sent flying by the Night Slash. Angel sheathed her sword and watched as the man fell onto his back unconscious.

The Absol began walking towards the man, but came to a halt and drew her blade once more when four more Pokémon wearing formal clothing appeared.

"Forgive our intrusion- but we cannot let you near our employer." One of them, an Accelgor stated.

"We shall be taking our leave now. Do excuse the trouble."

With that, a portal opened up behind the fallen Probopass, courtesy of a large pink gem.

"Hmf…"

Angel sheathed her blade slowly and looked back to her friends- it seems they were safe thanks to Benjamin and Sarah. She would have to repay them later for the deed. For now…

Cythereia still lay flat on the ground, completely knocked out. The Dark-type stared at her for a moment before walking towards her.

"Stay with them." Angel commanded, sparing a glance to the sailor duo. They did as told and stayed at their positions to protect the others who were spent of their energies.

As the Absol drew closer, the Mienshao gijinka stirred and slowly began to get up.

"Ugh…" Rider clutched her head in pain before shaking it off as a shadow aura enveloped her whole body. The Martial Arts Pokémon then stood up straight and groaned as the aura burst around her. "I'm not done just yet…"

"W-Wh…"

The Demon Rider sent a Shadow Wave aimed for Angel. The Absol's eyes widened for just a moment as she brought her sword down against the attack, dispelling it completely.

The Absol shot a Shadow Ball Cythereia's way. The Fighting-type Pokémon jumped up to dodge it.

"You… Oh, you're going to be fun." The lilac-clad gijinka stated as she coughed out a little blood.

In response, Angel shot an Ice Beam and created copies of herself.

Cythereia crouched to evade the ultracold energy and closed in on the clones with Reversal.

Angel took the opportunity to slice at the Rider from behind, sending her to the ground with a groan of pain.

"She's driven… Driven to kill." Sarah commented as she watched the scene unfold.

Angel was clearly overpowering Cythereia, but the Mienshao refused to back down. Regardless of the number of hits she took, she would keep coming again and again at the wielder of the bronze broadsword.

Cythereia gasped for air as she was slashed across her torso once more. Angel sheathed her blade as the Shadow Pokémon fell to the ground on her back.

"Stay down." The Absol said. Rider spat at the Dark-type's feet, which the latter didn't seem to mind. "You'll be coming with us."

"I'm afraid she must come with us as well."

The Accelgor from earlier appeared out of nowhere behind Angel. The Disaster Pokémon turned her head to look the bug-type in the eye.

"Do excuse the disturbance we have caused. But we cannot allow you to take her with you."

A portal had already opened up behind Cythereia's form and with it, a Poliwrath in business attire dragged the other Fighting-type into the portal.

The main cast could only watch as Angel stood silently, the darkness around her scythe dissipating as she let the men get away with a Project F Pokémon.

"No way… All of that work…"

The portal closed before the Dark-type. After a monetary pause, the girl began walking back to her allies.

"Angel… Why did you let them get away?" Diana asked.

"We can deal with that when all of you are restored to your usual selves. For now, we return to the orphanage- you can be treated properly there."

The three girls, still conscious exchange tired glances amongst one another before letting the exhaustion win over them completely.

* * *

As the group began their trek back to the Slums with the three conscious Pokémon discussing how to get through unnoticed, a figure stood on high ground.

In the darkness of dusk, only a smile could be seen.

"Hmhm… It would seem m'lady's project is going quite well." A deep, masculine voice mused. "And on top of the test, I think I can safely confirm the reports amongst us higher-ups."

The man's grin only widened slightly as he watched the main cast enter the Slums.

"But even I didn't think that anyone would fall for it… Periculum selling one of their most powerful weapons to a rich, pompous fool like him?" Quiet chuckling followed. "T'was quite the chore, having to match my controls with his…"

The man looked at the device in his hands- a small transceiver emitting purple and red-orange waves. He pushed a button onto it, causing the wire emitting the waves to retract and the rest of the device to shut down.

"Portable Phantasmal Beacons. Much less power and control over a Shadow Pokémon than an ordinary one, but still quite useful." The man slid the device into a pocket on what seemed like a long coat.

"After all, it affected only one of the Shadow Pokémon in the area, and that kept things safe for little old me."

The figure turned around and began walking away. He then brought out another small remote-like device and switched it on. The small screen on it displayed a single red dot not very far from there.

Looking in the direction of the red dot's location, the man could see a small but overly fancy house atop a cliff. It seemed that two silhouettes were watching over the fields outside the Slums, before the lights went on.

"Now, now, Cythereia… I think it's time we go back home for our report to our lady, wouldn't you think so?"

* * *

 _Periculum Codex: "Cythereia the Demon"_

 _Position: Specimen of Project Fate_

 _Class: Rider (Project F exclusive)_

 _Species: Mienshao_

 _Gender: Female_

 _Status: Standby_

 _Place of Origin: Southeastern Driasia_

 _Obedience: 84% (100% with Fighting-Phantasmal Beacon)_

 _Estimated Base Stats: 85 HP, 165 Attack, 75 Defense, 60 Special Attack, 65 Special Defense, 130 Speed, 580 Total._

 _Ability: Inner Focus: Prevents flinching from moves such as Fake Out and Air Slash._

 _Moveset: Low Sweep, Dual Chop, Bounce, Rock Slide, Reversal, *Shadow Rush, *Shadow Wave, *Shadow Half_


	18. C18 - Back on the Road

Shadows in War, Segment Two, Chapter Eighteen – Back on the Road

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by Game Freak.**_

 _HALLELUHAH. Floatzel can now learn Liquidation in-game! Wootwoot. Oscar's moveset is now legit. xD_

 _Oh, right. I am like, THREE, maybe four or so weeks late. So the first two weeks, I've been trying my butt off to get to writing this, and for the third week, let's just say I had some activities. Non-school related this time, so I absolutely couldn't write. Once again, apologies… I'll probably be able to write consistently like I did before when Christmas vacation comes around._

 _Speaking of which, I'll be getting UM for myself for Christmas. How much will that new knowledge affect the story? Aside from the new moves, I'll leave the rest to your imaginations._

 _So I may be uploading like this from now on. It'll be much slower… But I think it beats not writing at all._

 _By the way, I probably should have mentioned this earlier. The way food works in this series is kinda like the Pokémon anime(Gen1~Gen3anime anyway since that's all I know). While Pokémon are the dominant species, normal animals still do exist. Birds, mice, cats, dogs, and the like. Only very few Pokémon would have any animal as a pet, though._

 _That was to address the one time the team went to Jerry's in Virtue City, and to address Nathan and Oscar getting grub later in the chapter._

* * *

"A'wright, thanks kiddo. Here's your pay."

A Druddigon gijinka tossed a small sack of coins at the other Pokémon standing in the stall.

A young man wearing an orange jacket over a cream-colored shirt caught the sack and gave the bag a light shake before nodding.

"Sweet. If you've got any more work, I'll be right around the corner."

The man glanced at the Water-type as he left, then looked to two barrels he and some Decidueye brought in. The containers were filled to the brim with freshly caught fish of all kinds, even a few large salmons.

"That kid's fishing skills sure are something else."

* * *

"Come again anytime."

Samantha bowed to the leaving customer. By now, everyone was ignorant of her strange politeness and her cleanness and just accepted her as another worker. A Houndour leaning on a wall nearby groaned internally.

"Girl like that won't be keeping up that kind of attitude for very long in these parts."

"Does make you wonder where she's from, though." Another man commented. He was cleaning some of the goods that the Braixen was helping to sell.

"Yeah- you don't see any Pokémon like that around here very often."

"Mordy, you know anything?" The Houndour queried.

Mordy, an Unfezant gijinka, chuckled.

"I think I might. There's a little town in Eastern Driasia where the Pokémon live like it was centuries ago."

"Good afternoon. How may I help you?" The Fire-type's cheery voice sounded. The customer seemed a little suspicious at first but then shrugged it off and examined the goods.

" _This is definitely better than nothing._ " The firefox mused internally. " _And definitely much better than all the other places I've visited._ "

* * *

The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the canals as a certain girl in a lightning-design jacket sped forwards.

Taryn reached a rusted door at the end of the canals going into the sewers. The Jolteon knocked three times lightly, twice slowly, and four times loudly.

Slowly, the door creaked open to reveal a Toxicroak gijinka standing there.

"Where's the stuff?" The Poison-type croaked at the end of his sentence, looking down at the shorter Pokémon standing at the door.

"Here." The Electric-type mumbled as she brought out a small pouch. The Toxic Mouth Pokémon opened it to find a few small plastic bags containing some sort of powder.

"A'ight… Ben, go get the dough."

"On it."

"You wait here for a sec. You don't mind, do ya?" Another croak followed the man's speech. The spiky-haired girl nodded in response and leaned against the wall sideways from the door as the Toxicroak shut it closed.

Minutes passed before the door creaked open once more to reveal just the arm of the blue frog Pokémon holding a sack. Taryn accepted it, and the arm withdrew into the darkness before the door shut closed.

"Let's see… Four K, huh? It'll do."

* * *

"Ack! Dammit, how in the hell?"

Stuck to the ground was a man sporting a pair of purple wings outlined in blue. The Golbat looked where he came to find another Pokémon in a cloak land before him.

"Sit."

"Grr…" The Flying-type spat towards the hooded figure's feet. "Where the hell do you get arrows like that?"

Silence followed. The figure continued to watch the Golbat struggle against an invisible force pinning him to the ground.

"There they are."

Six more Pokémon showed up on the scene. Two of them approached the hooded figure first, thanked him for the help, and handed him two pairs of cash.

"You can go now. Your service is appreciated, merc." With a nod, the cloaked Pokémon fled the area through parkour.

Once he had created enough distance, the man pulled down the hood on his cloak. Nathan glanced up at the setting sun that told him curfew was coming.

The Grass-type hummed in thought as he leaped down to a building shorter than the one he stood on due to a gentle slope.

" _These don't pay as much compared to the higher ranked missions, but… At least they do pay._ " The owl archer thought as he stopped to examine the sacks he took. " _Easily pays much more than your average job, that's for sure._ "

* * *

A young girl in her teens switched off a sound system from her perch. She wore a pair of green-tinted glasses over somewhat compounded eyes. A light tan t-shirt and baggy pants served as her outfit, while two pairs of green, rhombus shaped wings hung on her back and a tail ending in two rhombus shapes was attached to her lower back.

With a yawn and a stretch of her arms, she opened the door at the back and walked down the steps to the lounge area of the club.

"Yo, Phoebe, what drinks you got?" The Vibrava gijinka queried.

Behind the counter of a small bar was a fairly short-looking girl donning a short white dress that only went down to her thighs. Green thigh high socks covered the rest of her legs, leaving a small bit of skin visible between the two items. Her hair was green and had a pair of red streaks on either side of the head. To top it off, the girl had reddish pink eyes.

"Water, a little alcohol, and a couple of soda cans." The bartender, a Kirlia responded.

"Soda brands?" The Ground-type questioned as she approached the bar and took a seat.

"Z-Cola, and the other one's Regal Orange."

"I'll take the Regal."

The Kirlia nodded, turned to a small refrigerator, and leaned over to get an orange can with an orange and a Raichu gijinka giving a thumbs up with a can in his off hand. The Dragon-type Pokémon took a moment to glance at the Emotion Pokémon's backside, where the hem of the dress lifted ever so slightly thus only barely covering the cloth underneath.

"You probably shouldn't be doing that a lot with the customers around. They might just ask _you_ for a dance." The Kirlia chuckled in return and stood up to give the Vibration Pokémon her drink.

"C'mon, Rachel, it's not like any actual customers are here." The Psychic-type replied. "And besides- you know you like it."

"Yeah, just us guys plus you three gals down here." A smooth masculine voice stated.

The duo looked to the wall to see a man with smooth purple hair and a grin on his face sticking out of it. His chest was visible- it was a purple pinstripe suit from the looks of it, and he had a pair of haunting red eyes.

"Heya, Al. Diana done changing yet?" Rachel, the Vibrava girl queried. The Gengar gijinka shook his head in response before exiting the wall completely and taking a seat. The girl seated down popped open the can of Regal in her hand.

"Matilda's closing up above, while Laura's already gone home. Sidney and Steve are just chatting by the entrance." Alex the Gengar's grin never faded away, typical for his species. "The rest of the girls, as you've probably seen, have already left so it really is just us around here."

"Heh. Speaking of which, Phoebe, how's your powers doing? Getting any practice lately?" Rachel questioned.

"Been about a month since I last practiced. Why?" The Kirlia responded as she picked up a glass and wiped it clean with a cloth.

"Just asking. Wouldn't be very fun if you and I degraded… Maybe we could go sub for some of the girls." The Kirlia smirked in response.

"I guess a few Draining Kisses wouldn't hurt." The Fairy-type responded.

"With my Poison-typing, I'm pretty sure I can be safe from your cooties." Al remarked. His grin turned devious as he eyed the Kirlia bartender.

"Oh, please. You and Sidney would still fall to Attract."

"'Sides, remember how our tactics owned you guys last time?"

"Aw, come on. You two have the type advantage over us, and Attract is just unfair!"

"Sorry I'm late. Did I miss anything?"

A girl wearing a short black dress approached. The dress had four slits going from the base to the hips, and white thigh high socks covered her legs. A pair of black gloves detached from the sleeveless dress decorated her arms.

"If you're talking about this conversation, I don't think you missed much."

"So, I guess we're the only ones here?" Diana questioned as she took a seat next to Rachel.

"Yep, just us. The other three are upstairs." Phoebe replied as she passed the Meloetta a glass of water.

Diana raised the cup to her lips. The Gengar gijinka pulled out a cellphone from out of his pocket and switched it on.

"Say, Diana, what have you been up to the past week?" Rachel queried. "Haven't been seeing you around lately."

"Well…" The Meloetta began her explanation.

* * *

"Ugh… What… The fuck are you?"

No reply came. The man coughed out some blood. Behind him was a toppled over caravan with its wheels coated in ice. The bodies of other Pokémon were scattered about along with their weapons, presumably the man's allies.

Clapping came from somewhere behind the figure that completely annihilated the man's caravan.

"It seems your contract wasn't bluffing." A tall man wearing a black and red vest mused as he approached. His half-closed orange eyes surveyed the surrounding area. Then, he smiled and gave the attacker two stacks of bills. "Run along now, mercenary."

Angel didn't spare a second and turned to leave.

* * *

Two more weeks had passed at the orphanage, and things were beginning to calm down. Now, nobody but a select few knew of the market heist three weeks ago and our favorite bunch of protagonists had their names nearly erased from the Slums.

Save for of course, the Underground Current's reputation in the drug world. But otherwise, everything was going as planned.

And one day, a strange knock came on the door. Three light taps, two slow ones, then four heavier knocks.

"Hang on, that's…"

"I'll get it." Melissa said to no one in particular as she stood up from her seat and began walking towards the door.

"Wait. I'll do it." Taryn interjected. "That should be someone I know if they knock like that." The Servine, hardly understanding her friend's words, relented and sat back down on her seat.

The Jolteon gijinka approached the door and opened it just enough for her to see who was on the other side. Much to her surprise, it wasn't a dealer or any of her associates- no, instead of anyone like that, it was a young-looking girl. Her hair was in a hime cut with the right side being longer than the left and reaching down to the waistline.

"Azul?"

"Shh." The girl put an index to Taryn's lips. "Tell them that this came from the Resistance. I was never here."

The girl dressed in blue handed the Lightning Pokémon a small envelope.

"Uh… Sure?"

Azul nodded and walked backwards until she disappeared around the corner. Her gaze and presence didn't leave the Electric-type Eeveelution until the latter lost sight of her.

"Heya, Taryn. Who was it?"

* * *

"You're home free." A young man in a brown hoodie stated. In his hands was the envelope Taryn received earlier and a slip of paper. "Boogey's eyes have gone off and we need all who are available."

"So we can finally…"

"…Leave the Slums?"

"Sounds like it'll be good for you all to get back to the field, huh?" Ken commented.

"Yeah. Been a while since I've been able to go all out." The Floatzel gijinka in the orange jacket responded.

"So you weren't taking that battle with me seriously, huh?" Nathan snickered. The Water-type gave the Grass-type an annoyed stare.

"Nah, I was! You just got lucky."

"You can file your complaints to my type advantage and superior tactics."

"Screw off, birdbrain."

While the two boys were feuding, Samantha and Taryn were chatting with Diana about how it would be to get out of the Slums for real. Benjamin and Sarah both seemed to be a little relieved that they could head back.

And on the other hand…

"We'll be leaving soon." Angel said. Lisa in her flowing white dress nodded.

"I can't thank you enough for coming back, Mercy. And for all the help you and your friends have given us." The Gardevoir gijinka bowed slightly.

The girl in white and black did not reply and simply watched the Fairy-type raise her head.

"…I'm merely a call away." The woman smiled at the mercenary's words and then looked to the rest of the latter's allies.

" _I'm glad to see you made some friends._ "

"Goodbye, Mercy!"

"Come visit again soon, OK?"

"Take care!"

The team stopped at the door and turned to their Absol friend. She was looking back at the children with a slightly softer expression than usual. Angel nodded before leading the way, followed by her friends who likewise waved back and gave their last goodbyes to the Orphanage.

* * *

Now that they were on the road, the group started by heading southeastwards. According to some intel they got in the Slums, a pack of travelers and three caravans would be traveling together headed for the town in that direction.

Their plan was to join that large group of Pokémon for extra security. Though the base was directly south from the Slums, the team figured it would be nicer to get back into the swing of Driasia outside the Slums. And while the letter did call them back, it never said they needed to hurry.

" _It's been years now. I wonder how much Driasia's changed while I was in there._ "

Diana was snapped out of her musings by a cheery wave from a certain Electric-type.

"Hey, Diana, anything up?" The girl dressed in yellow asked. Her hands were in her jacket's pockets and she was walking backwards.

"The perfectly blue sky." The Meloetta replied.

"Definitely beats the Slums' sky, huh?" The Normal-type clad in the black dress nodded with a smile.

The rest of the trek was uneventful. Despite this, everyone was in high spirits. Time passed by slowly, and the terrains began to shift to more grasslands, forests, rivers, and hills.

Some Pokémon living in the wilds could be seen from time to time, giving greetings to the passerby Resistance. One Pokémon even gave a small bag of gems as a gift which Samantha graciously accepted.

The only thing ruining a pleasant day of traveling aside from a civil war between a superpower and a bunch of patriots was the feeling that the team was being followed. And this feeling was a very _familiar_ feeling. It wasn't like any ordinary living creature was following them.

"How long do you think it'll be before she realizes that she's worse at stealth than I am?" Oscar asked.

"Don't know… Kinda creepy, though." Samantha answered with a shrug.

"Who… And how many times?" Benjamin, the Shiny Glaceon questioned with an unamused expression.

"Twice." Angel replied.

"But who is it?" Sarah asked. None of the main cast decided to reply, and the group continued in silence.

Some time had passed. The team still couldn't shake the feeling that a certain someone was trailing them. They ignored it, and at this point, they really didn't mind anymore, but it did leave them curious.

The sun would be setting soon, so the team decided to look for a good place to set up camp for the night.

"Are we really going to just let her follow us like this?" Sarah quizzed.

"I suppose we should just let her know already." Nathan replied. He looked rather tired of what was going on.

"What do you guys say to looking for somewhere to camp out first? I'm pretty sure she'll end up taking some of our sweet time away." Taryn said looking to the sun in the west.

"I second the notion." Diana added lazily.

So the heroes wound up in a clear space by a lake. The boys set up the tents while Taryn and Diana helped Samantha and Sarah fix up their items for the night. Angel sat to a small rock to the side and drew her blade to examine it.

The tip of the sun was now looming over the horizon. Oscar took a moment to admire his and the other two's work before taking a few steps to his friends.

"So… Now?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Their expressions showed just how tired and confused they were from Azul following them. A shadow passed by in the trees across the lake, which the team's eyes followed. Soft giggling could be heard from there, giving away the position of the girl.

"Hey, uh… Azul? We know you're there."

In a much deeper voice that should have been impossible, the shadow in the trees replied.

"Azul? Now, who might that be? Perhaps you speak to yourself."

With a laugh, the girl came out of hiding and smiled and waved at the group.

Azul crossed the water by walking on it whilst holding a blue gem. Samantha stared in awe at the sheen of the item and at the faint purple fog encasing it.

" _That's... One of the Legendary Gems of Suicune! How does she have one?_ "

"So, how's life?" The girl asked as the gem faded away and she touched the land with her somehow dry shoes.

"Really? That's what you have to say after an entire day of stalking us?"

"Again."

Azul giggled.

"Ah, well, cat's out of the bag." The girl in the blue dress responded.

"Has been since this afternoon." Taryn responded with an annoyed glance.

"Hee-hee. I was having fun." The girl replied.

"So what do you want this time?" The Floatzel gijinka of the group queried.

Azul took a few steps towards the place where Sarah had set up stones and wood for a fire.

"Hmm… I dunno. Just felt like following you guys."

"For-"

"The twenty-third time, I'm aware."

"T-Twenty three…?" Nathan asked. "I don't think…"

"So, logic. You've got three options. Either A: I'm lying and/or kidding around, B: I've just not bothered to cloak myself the two times you got me, or C: I've been following you guys since your team started with the owl recruiting the fox.

"What now?"

"Forget that last bit. What have you been up to?" Azul tilted her head faintly to the side. Despite how dull and simple her appearance was and how strange the girl herself was, she was admittedly cute when she did that. It was like looking at an innocent little girl.

"We're getting out of the Slums."

"Got a call from Mister Staudinger or something?" The group paused at Azul's question. Tobias never revealed his full name in any letters.

"How do you keep getting information like that?" The owl archer questioned.

"Like I said- I have my sources."

The group eventually settled down and started the fire and began looking for food. Oscar volunteered to fish, while Nathan would head into the woods to get some game.

By then, the sun had set and he moon rose in its place. The cool night air swept through the plains and the forests. A merry atmosphere developed around the camping grounds as the girls engaged in conversation, save for Angel and Benjamin who were maintaining their weapons.

* * *

"It never occurred to me that we haven't exactly been introduced." Benjamin directed towards the short girl in the blue dress.

"Oh, you can get details about me from these guys. I already have whatever information I'll need on you." Azul replied casually, as if she wasn't like some kind of incredibly skilled stalker.

"Does that mean you know I once pulled a punch that bent reality?" The Fennekin gijinka wearing a skirt asked. The other girl happily nodded.

"Made me proud." The girl said giving a thumbs up.

"…What?"

Azul giggled in response.

"In three more segments, you'll understand, younglings." The girl jokingly stated.

The Pokémon gathered around all decided against questioning Azul about it and dismissed it as just her behavior.

Later on, the team settled down for the night, sleeping peacefully and nervously knowing that the strange girl was taking night shift.

* * *

At first light, Taryn awoke to see two of her friends- namely the Water-type and Fire-type awake already. The sun was beginning to rise, so the Electric-type got up with a yawn.

"Oh, g'morning, Taryn." The Floatzel in the orange jacket waved groggily.

"You two just got up too?" The yellow gijinka asked. The Braixen nodded.

"Don't feel like going back to sleep." The Firefox mumbled as she adjusted her hair with a comb and fixed them back into the usual Braixen-style.

The trio glanced to the rising sun in the background. A moment of peace away from war and stress was not very common, so things like this were much appreciated by those who had the time.

"Hang on… What's…"

"What…?"

Looking to where Oscar was pointing, the two girls followed the finger to the cliff just a few meters away from where they were camping.

There, on the very edge, stood a feminine figure. She wore a gothic black dress torn around the bottom. Knee-length white hair covered the entirety of her back. Her hair fell on the right side of her face, covering it from their view. Other details were unclear through the three's sleepy state and the darkness of the land.

"Who… Is that?"

The girl standing on the cliff turned to glance at them. Upon noticing them, she slowly sank into the ground with strange black and red particles surrounding her.

"…What…?"

Deciding to explore it, Oscar, Samantha, and Taryn all walked towards the cliff. When they approached, nothing was there- not a trace of the woman. No scent, no auras, no feelings in the air.

As if she was an illusion.

* * *

"Hey, guys."

The group turned to face the blue girl leading the way.

"I've got a bit of a favor. Mind hearing me out?"

"Well… You did help us a lot back in the Slums. What is it?" Samantha queried. Azul smiled and stopped to turn and face the main cast plus Benjamin and Sarah.

"Once you return to base, I did not exist until I show up again." The girl said. She still wore her normal smile, but everyone could feel that the temperature dropped, and that the air became thick. It was similar to the descriptions of standing before a Legendary Pokémon's Pressure. "You can remember me- but to everyone who aren't you, I was never here."

"Uh… OK." Nathan said tentatively.

"Hm… Fine, then." Angel replied, looking the girl in the eye.

"You have my word." Benjamin replied.

"Erm… Sure, I guess." Sarah added.

"G-Got it." Taryn stuttered.

The tension in the air immediately vanished, replaced by the ordinary atmosphere of the nature around them.

"Thanks. If you feel like saying anything about me, be vague, and let's pretend that it's a more… Ordinary Pokémon. Just like you." Azul stated, but gave a knowing glance to a few others. "You all got that?"

"Yeah… But, uhm, why?" Samantha asked.

" _Why do I feel like things are going to go south really fast?_ " Oscar thought.

"Hmm… Privacy reasons." The blue girl replied. "Not everyone in the Resistance is nice. So, if you understand that, I'll be headed off now."

"…Right.

True to her word, Azul left by teleporting with the use of a Psychic Gem. She gave the party her usual small smile and waved them off, wishing them luck.

"…Think she's gone now?" The Electric-type Eeveelution quizzed.

"I think so." Diana replied.

"If you're worried, you can drop your guard- I don't think she's here anymore either." Sarah added.

"That was… Genuinely scary." The Decidueye remarked as the group continued walking.

"Welp, now I know what it feels like to be the main character in those animes…" Oscar commented.

"That pressure is not something any normal Pokémon can recreate." Angel added.

"Ever consider the fact that maybe Azul isn't a Pokémon?" Benjamin asked.

"...Azul influence you or something?" Diana asked. "She's got to be a Pokémon Gijinka, right?"

"She doesn't have the same kind of aura as a regular Pokémon does, which strikes me as odd." Sarah remarked.

"Yeah… Didn't notice it before, but…" The Jolteon trailed off.

"Azul… What IS she?" Samantha asked.

"That, is a mystery that may never be answered." The Shiny Glaceon replied.

"If she isn't a gijinka, then what do you think she could be?" Angel took the lead at the Decidueye's words.

"As long as she isn't our enemy, then it isn't something we should worry about."

"If you say so."

* * *

 _Earlier that day…_

At the border on the West just outside Runswick, the earth shook. An entire battalion of Pokémon clad in white armor were marching to the small town.

"The town is just a click away! Keep marching!" A Sawk gijinka walking ahead of the battalion exclaimed.

* * *

In the town by the river, it was chaos. Everyone was scattering about, collecting supplies, locking their houses, or looking at the army coming their way.

"What will we do?"

"It's the end for us…"

"Quickly, hide the children!"

"Where the hell did you drop the basement key!?"

A small portion of the town stood on the rooftops of buildings to get a better look. Pokémon with purple glints and the intent to kill in their eyes were amongst the many soldiers armed to the teeth with all sorts of weaponry.

* * *

"March! March! March! March!"

The Periculum forces drew ever closer, with a Sawk, Crawdaunt, Tangrowth, and a Diggersby leading the charge.

"All units, positions!" The Tangrowth yelled. In that instant, all the Shadow Pokémon moved to the front of the line, followed by Pokémon with large shields, then spears, then swords, then bows, then guns.

"Gunners, load weapons!"

Every Pokémon armed with a gun checked their ammunition and their weapon clips. Everything checked out. Now, to use them.

"HALT!"

The whole unit stopped moving with a resounding stomp. They were position close to the top of a low hill. The archers and snipers in the Periculum ranks scanned the area around them for anything suspicious.

In the very front, just a few steps away, a tall but somewhat aged man stood.

"Why, hello, my lords." The man spoke. He donned thick, heavy plates of armor over his body but left a few openings to reveal the color of light purple underneath. He held a cane in his hand to support him standing. A helmet of sorts rested itself on the his head with a pair of spikes pointing backwards resembling antennae. Glossy black eyes looked upon the four leaders of the charge. "If I may ask, what is your business here?"

The Tangrowth, being the tallest of the leaders, took two steps forward.

"Do you come from that small town there?" The Grass-type retorted.

"Why, yes! I've lived all fourty-seven of my years here." The man replied in a jolly way. The four exchanged glances.

"Then stand out of our way, or you will be crushed!" The Diggersby roared. The old man paused and took a step back with a gulp.

"My word, we have done nothing to support the Resistance! Please, do spare us!" The aged man pleaded.

"If you won't get out of our way, then we will make you." The Crawdaunt stated as he stepped forward. His fist coated itself in water, preparing for a Crabhammer to take the man's life.

The Dark-type approached and raised his arm. With great force, he brought it down onto the man's position.

…Only for the strike to be blocked in a nick of time.

"What…?"

The Golisopod gijinka smirked.

"Sorry, but I don't actually live in Runswick. And two, I cannot let you pass." The man stated as he dropped the cane in his offhand.

The Crawdaunt took a few steps back and glared down the man.

"Who do you think you are to mess with Periculum!?" The Sawk exclaimed as he ran forward with his fist glowing orange.

Immediately, the strike was stopped. The Golisopod moved at incredible speed to deliver a Sucker Punch to the Fighting-type's guts.

"O-Oogh…"

"NOW!" The Golisopod roared at such a volume that it startled even the leaders. In the next instant, a large amount of Pokémon donning the Resistance emblem over military variants of their species outfits came from the top of the hill down towards the stunned Periculum forces.

"OOOORRAAHH!"

"It's the Resistance! Stand your ground!" The Tangrowth exclaimed as he threw up a Reflect. Behind the Grass-type coated in vines, a few of the Periculum soldiers were trembling in fear, with one standing over a _yellowish_ puddle that previously wasn't there.

A Breloom lunged forward with a Brick Break, destroying the Reflect wall to make way for the physical attackers. The Crawdaunt snarled in fury and rushed the Fighting-type with a Crabhammer. Before the Crawdaunt could strike the attacker, an Aurora Beam struck him from the side.

"Now, now…" Austyn mumbled as he drew a pair of shurikens and evaporated.

With a mighty roar, the rest of the Resistance charged for the Periculum army. Ethan was swatting down Shadow Pokémon left and right with two gigantic swords.

"Hah! These Shadow Pokémon are much weaker than I thought!"

"What… The hell is that guy?" A Charmeleon in Periculum asked as he shot a few burning arrows at the Resistance Pokémon.

"To be able to take down four Commanders with just surprise, ambush one of OUR battalions, and even treat Shadow Pokémon like they're dirt? He's got to be some kind of Legendary Pokémon or something!"

The duo looked up to see a Vaporeon with a couple of shurikens in hand.

"Sorry, but I'll need you two to stay down."


	19. C19 - A Nationwide Ambush

Shadows in War, Segment Two, Chapter Nineteen – A Nationwide Ambush

* * *

 _So, my "Christmas Break" which does not involve reviewing for midterms moved to next year will be coming up this Wednesday.  
_

 _Once I upload Chapter twenty, I'll get back to the re-write for this story. Then when the revised Chapter 10 is out, then I'll get back to the main story and upload a few more before finally finishing the rewrite. Yes, I did not forget about it. Just didn't feel like doing it for the longest time. I can't wait to get to the exciting parts of this story, hehe._

 _So, Floatzel with Liquidation is just OP as hell. I'll be opening Ultra Moon for myself on X-mas, so I've been messing around with Pokemonshowdown for that. Just... It's Waterfall with a better, more likely effect and +5 more power. It almost feels like a Water-type Azelf with lower other stats._

 _Back to the main topic: mind telling me what you people think of this chapter and how the story's going so far? I appreciate comments of all sorts. T'would be helpful, given that I'm still a little green around the ears in writing. And because of my strand, I don't get writing classes._

 _Well, not like I mind not getting any lessons for this anyway. I like getting things through experience._

 _Things will be heating up in the story soon. So far, the main cast have not really battled any ordinary Shadow Pokemon in normal circumstances, but they will be soon._

 _A Volcarona going under testing. A fresh face to Project F: Anaxos of Lightning. Mirsinus of Stone, who was THIS close to completion. And then Cythereia the Demon, a proper Project F warrior. This should give our favorite heroes the upper hand in fighting, but can they handle having to deal with more than one at a time, like with the Sigilyph?_

 _I think we all know the answer. Because Tobias says it later._

 _Anyway, I'll end my words here and let the story speak for itself._

 _Ciao._

* * *

"Looks like this is our stop." Oscar mumbled.

The group hopped off the cart and Angel gave a few bills to the driver. With that, the stopped cart continued moving forward alongside a large group of travelers and carts.

"Let's not look suspicious." Nathan whispered. With exchanged nods, the group all began walking away from the procession.

"It's best that we don't draw any attention- so let us make haste." Benjamin ordered quielty so as not to be heard by the caravan.

* * *

"It's been a while since we've been in a base, hasn't it?"

"It has."

The team walked through corridors and halls around the base. Benjamin and Sarah had separated from them once they arrived, and said that they would be heading elsewhere for the time being.

Things were as lively as ever but not the same way as then.

Where in their last visit, the base was lively with chatter and friendly conversation, now it was lively with Pokémon running around left and right, delivering messages, items, getting ready, practicing, strategizing, and the like.

"Gee, I wonder what's going on."

"Tobias DID say he needed everyone he could get, right?" The Braixen girl mused.

" _It seems they've made their counterattack._ "

The group continued on through the base for The Master's quarters. Everywhere they went, it seemed everyone was in a tense state.

"Found you."

The team looked forward to face the speaker. There, a girl with a height of 5'1(155cm) stood. Her face was fair and young, and her eyes were a bluish purple. A small red gem rested itself on her forehead. Lilac colored hair was accompanied by a pair of cat ears on either side of her head. A lilac cardigan was draped over her body with sleeves that reached to her elbows. Closing just the very top part of the apparel was a red ribbon depicting the Resistance's emblem and a zero next to it. Her torso was covered by a dark purple tank top. The girl donned a short skirt with room for her forked tail. Finally, she wore thigh highs the same color as her top and a pair of velvet sandals.

"That emblem… You're affiliated with the Zero Brigade?" Nathan asked.

"Zero… Brigade?" Taryn mumbled.

"Hang on… Aren't they supposed to be the absolute best fighters in any Elite Team in the Resistance?" The Fire-type Samantha commented.

At that, the Espeon gijinka smiled a little.

"Sorry, but we've no time for that. Tobias asked me to pick you guys up while I wait for more injured to be brought back here."

"Injured?" Diana asked. The Psychic-type cat blinked a couple of times.

"...I'll explain later, after I ask about your outfit."

* * *

"Master Tobias, we're all here."

The wheelchair in the center of the familiar room spun around to reveal a man sporting clear red shades and rhombus-shaped wings sitting there.

"Good. By the way, have you introduced yourself yet?" Tobias, the Master of the Resistance queried.

"Not yet. I think explaining what's happened in their absence should be prioritized." The Sun Pokémon stated.

"Alright, then. Everyone, have a seat."

Wordlessly, everyone but Angel and Benjamin took a seat.

"I think we have time. You shouldn't be too hasty, Rita." The Flygon said with a patient smile.

The Espeon nodded sheepishly and shrugged.

"Now, first thing's first… A couple of Zain's spies around the area reported that there was some kind of terrible aura nearby the Slums. Now we have a girl dressed up exactly like a Mythical Pokémon in the wrong form, and you're all trying to rack your brains for whatever info you might have on Rita here thanks to her emblem."

"That's basically it." The Electric-type eeveelution mused.

"Let's start things with the introductions, alright?" Tobias said. "Rita."

With a nod, the Espeon took a few steps from her seat and bowed.

"My name is Rita Azuma. I'm a member of the Zero Brigade, dubbed 'Starlight.' My job is to keep everyone standing in a fight and to help with type coverage.." The Espeon gijinka smiled at the main cast. "It's a pleasure to finally make the acquaintance of the team that's gained a lot of popularity with the Resistance in such little time."

"A celebrity wanted to meet us? That's… Awesome." Samantha stated, earning a giggle from the Psychic-type.

"Let's see here… You're Nathan Shaw, the team scout and archer. You're Oscar Trevin, the one handling all aquatic-based problems the team's got with a spear in hand. Then you're Samantha Autumn, the mage and item master of your team… And this should be Taryn Bailey, the hacker who confounds her enemies with speed."

"You make us sound like we're an Elite Team." Oscar joked.

"Hehe. This must be…" Rita trailed off as she examined the Absol gijinka with the sheathed sword closely. "Angel, right? You're the mercenary who joined a random team and defeated the Tyranitar simulation single handedly."

"Hmph."

"Everyone knows you for that. Eagle Squadron's already spreading word that you tanked out a hit from a Shadow Pokémon, which a lot of people won't believe- especially those who've already faced the wrath of Shadow-type moves."

"Hang on, what now?" Taryn asked.

"But… Periculum haven't really deployed many Shadow Pokémon in any fights except during our raid." Nathan reasoned.

"We'll get there." Tobias said. "So, since obviously Rita and I doesn't know who that is, mind explaining who the new girl is?" The green-dressed Pokémon asked as he pointed a finger to the Meloetta in her Pirouette form.

Diana sighed and prepared herself.

" _As much as I hate to say it, this is what I signed up for._ _At least he seems nice, for the Master of the entire Resistance._ " The Mythical Pokémon thought. "I'm Diana Arilina- and yes, I'm a real Meloetta."

"No way… But aren't Meloetta always in their Aria forms whenever they aren't fighting?" Rita queried.

"Yeeeaaah, I like being in Pirouette form much more than the singer form." Diana replied.

"She's not very convincing…" Tobias mused.

"I know…"

"I can hear you, you know." The Fighting-type stated with an annoyed glare.

"She really is a Meloetta. Living in the Slums." Taryn stated, smiling at the exchange between the Mythical and the two Resistance higher-ups.

"…That just makes me believe you a lot less." Tobias stated with a deadpan. He broke the silence that followed with a chuckle. "Sounds ridiculous, but okay. When we've got the time, I'd like to see you in action."

"Alright… J-Just know that I'm not as strong as other Mythical Pokémon are…"

"You think? I still remember how you beat me back in the training grounds…" Samantha trailed off, earning a chuckle out of the Meloetta.

Following that, the team detailed their fight against Cythereia, while Benjamin and Sarah commented on the situation within the gates during the battle.

* * *

"And that's everything."

"…Rita, mind getting the Dex?" Tobias ordered.

"Huh? Sure, gimme a sec." The Espeon walked over to a shelf on the left-hand side of the room and took a thin orange device in the shape of a rectangle.

"Taryn, stand up."

"Me? Okay…"

Rita held out the device towards Taryn. The upper part opened up and moved forwards while a digital screen held it in place to the main part in the Psychic-type Eeveelution's hand.

"What did you want to see, Tobias?"

"Moveset."

"Thunderbolt. Agility. Shadow Ball. Stored Power. Dig. Wait…"

"…EH?"

At that, Angel rose a brow.

"W-W-W-Wait… Taryn has FIVE moves now!?" Samantha exclaimed.

"Whoa… You're serious? Dig didn't delete any of my old moves?" The Lightning Pokémon asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

"From what it says here, yeah. Congrats." Rita said with a kind smile and clapped.

"Sweet, I so wanna check this out when this is over."

"Hm… You'll be able to check that soon, actually. You're alright with heading back into the field immediately, right?"

"Huh?" The owl archer interjected.

"Now we go back to the real topic: You've missed a lot while you were crashing in the Slums."

With that, Rita closed the Dex as it was called and placed it back on the shelf before sitting on an adjacent chair to bring down the digital monitor from the ceiling.

"That's…"

"A map of Driasia. The yellow points all represent on-going battles." The Mystic Pokémon gijinka stated seriously.

The whole map was littered with yellow dots. Two large ones were in the East, while three other big ones were in close proximity in the West. The rest of the map had at least two regular sized dots around it.

"Each of those dots have at least eight-hundred-fifty Periculum soldiers in it. And among their ranks…"

"…are the infamous Shadow Pokémon." Rita finished.

"So you mean…"

"Ethan in the West and Frank in the East- they probably won't take much damage, if any at all from the enemies there in a large-scale battle. What's problematic for them is the fact that they can't fight an army alone, and the Resistance fighting with them are suffering grave injuries from those Shadow Pokémon." Tobias explained.

"What about in the other places?"

"The other leaders are managing the situations in their stations. Claire's got the Southwest covered, Zain in the Southeast, Sebastian in the South, and Audrey's out doing some recon by the Northeast. So far, we're managing, but we've only just recovered up to here."

"Wait, what do you mean 'recovered?" The Ghost-type questioned.

"Five days ago, about four-fifths of the dots you see all appeared at exactly the same time. Periculum's trying to throw us off with a bunch of ambushes, and I have to admit that it caught us off guard."

"Despite the talent and skill our leaders possess they're having lots of trouble. All of these battles are very recent, and very big too." Rita added. "We've got other Elites in the places where they need to be, but they've got problems of their own as well. My own are up in the Northwest."

"Well, that makes me comfy knowing home is safe and sound." Oscar said then breathed a sigh of relief.

"The Solar Division is in the East, fighting under the strong sunlight with Duke Frank. Half of the Aquatic Shroud- Austyn and Vivian- are stationed in the West to assist General Ethan and defend the recently captured Periculum Main Base. The other two of their team- Darrion and Juan are fighting in the Southeast, clearing the rivers and the coastline there."

"Hang on, Rita, what are you doing here?" Diana questioned.

"I'm assigned here to help manage treating the injured. Tobias needs to be here, and all our Flying-units are occupied, so I can't just move around the country at will. Instead, we manually bring some of the seriously injured here and teleport those with the worst cases for me and the doctors to deal with."

"I imagine those in the other bases have their hands full…"

"Exactly. Everyone is busy now." The Dragon-type gijinka turned the wheelchair so that the back was facing the rest of the Pokémon in the room. "With you being one of the only few teams here in this base, I'll be deploying you to the South."

The Flygon stood up and moved the chair out of the way.

"See this battle here, in the upper reaches of that region?" The Flygon gijinka queried as he pointed at a yellow dot towards the upper left of the Southern Region. "They need supplies and some assistance. Since no Elites are there, I was thinking of sending you guys in to bring them the supplies and help them out however you can."

"…And we're better than any other team for this case why?" The Grass-type Nathan questioned.

"Because- you've fought off three Project F Pokémon in a span of two months, have a buddy who kicks serious ass, and a Mythical Pokémon to boot." Tobias said confidently as he crossed his arms and smiled. "That area is packed with at least one and a third thousand Periculum soldiers there. Our numbers there are growing weaker by the day- maybe a team as strong and lucky as yours can do something about it."

"OK, that's just pushing it, don't you think…?" The Fire mage asked.

"But hey, that just means we're really awesome." Taryn stated and hi-fived Oscar and Diana.

"Well, it'll be great to be back to business like this." The Sea Weasel Pokémon wearing orange and cream put his fist to his other hand.

"True. It has been a while since we've done the usual work a Resistance team would get." The hoodie-wearing archer remarked. "But still, basing our success mostly off luck is quite a gamble."

"And that's where Angel and Diana come in." The Master said. "Even if luck isn't on your side, then their pure strength combined with your teamwork and tactics will be useful down there. Now we just have to hope that Angel hasn't rusted."

The Absol in question who had been silent all this time simply glanced at Tobias to acknowledge that.

Inside, she was anticipating what was to come. This would be her first time on a true battlefield rather than the usual operation or chase. There would be enemies who would not stop until either they were dead or nothing against them was alive near them.

To get the chance to fight against an opponent that might give her a hard time- like the Tyranitar and Mirsinus had, was exciting. And perhaps, she may be able to fight them on on one amidst the chaos.

The thought of that gave the Disaster Pokémon something to look forward to. And as a bonus, it lined up with her ultimate goal.

"Angel?"

The girl dressed in white and black turned her attention from her inner musings to the Jolteon standing in front of her.

"We're going to take a quick break before we head for the South. While the others are preparing themselves or resting, I was thinking of asking you for a little battle."

The Dark-type gijinka paused for a moment to consider that- she, Taryn, and Tobias were the only ones in the room now. The Flygon was arranging more files and contacting plenty of people.

"On the condition that you won't complain if you can't join this next mission due to injury." The Electric-type's body crackled with a couple of zaps as she smirked.

"Sure- not like I'll let it happen anyway."

* * *

"Shadow Ball!"

Two orbs of ghostly energy exploded against one another on the field. Though Angel had more attacking power, she chose not to use as much to conserve her strength and make her last longer in battle.

Taryn having five moves at once was confirmed quickly when she started the match with one at a time. The Resistance who were watching the two fight were amazed that the Jolteon now had a fifth move- meaning she had the strength, will, and focus to be able to achieve that.

On the other hand, there were now rumors going about how Angel might have had more moves than she displayed. Reasonable enough, given her incredible fighting ability.

"Hmph…!"

Night Slash from a bronze blade came close to hitting the Jolteon, but Agility allowed her to speed out of the way in a nick of time.

"You're open!"

"Think again."

Taryn thrust her fist forward to strike the Dark-type with her gauntlets, but was shocked to find that she only hit a copy of the target.

"Guu… I hate how Double Team works." The Electric-type remarked. She burrowed under the ground immediately afterwards and shut the hole up.

At that point, the group of Angels began sprinting across the field, launching small Shadow Balls and Ice Beams at the ground where they thought Taryn would appear. Each hit was clearly meant as a test strike, and at the same time, this would confuse the Lightning Pokémon underground.

"Taryn's gotten better." A Cacnea gijinka remarked from the sidelines where he sat with a bunch of spectators.

"But she's still having a lot of trouble dealing with such a ruthless opponent…" A Lillipup added.

"S-S-Still, if she can just land a few blows on the mercenary…"

At that moment, Taryn erupted from one side of the field and let loose a Stored Power to keep back the small Ice Beam flung in that direction.

" _Now._ " Angel thought as the clones vanished. The girl shot an Ice Beam towards the Jolteon, who countered with a Thunderbolt.

The two attacks collided, creating frost particles and sparks across the battlefield. Taryn rushed in with Agility, attempting to get a fast strike on Angel.

"Hm…"

The Jolteon smiled as she landed the hit…

…But that smile turned upside down when she found that Angel used her horn to block.

"I'm prepared for fighters like you." Angel stated before swinging her sword up diagonally.

The blow sent the Jolteon flying back a few meters, but that didn't impede her from shooting a few Shadow Balls.

The Absol evaded each projectile gracefully before shooting her own attack at the Electric type. Rather than following the orb, Angel backed off and duplicated herself once more.

The Electric-type Eeveelution jumped to dodge. She then sent two Thunderbolts at two of the copies, but to no avail as she failed to hit the correct Absol.

" _She's using Double Team a lot more often… I guess this is how she keeps up with faster opponents._ "

The yellow-clad gijinka was snapped out of her thoughts as Angel came rushing in with her sword gleaming with darkness.

"Oh, crap." Taryn mused before letting out a Thunderbolt right as the Absol's attack struck her.

Pain was the only thing the Lightning Pokémon could feel once the blade hit her square in the chest. Once Taryn regained the feeling of being on the ground, she coughed and shook her head to clear her senses.

" _Damn… She's not even fighting like she usually does in a real battle._ " Taryn looked up, expecting to see the tip of a sword pointed at her face- but blinked in surprise as she only heard a muffled groan.

There, on the other side of the field, Angel was struggling to move. She was conscious and seemed like the Thunderbolt didn't do much to her in terms of damage, but…

" _Paralysis!_ _I might still be able to pull this off!_ "

Taryn fought through the stinging sensation from Night Slash and sped forward towards the Absol.

" _Now!_ "

With electricity crackling around her body, Taryn leaped upwards and brought down another blast of lightning from her body and towards the paralyzed Absol.

But at that moment-

"Foolish."

"Huh?"

A beam of ultracold energy stopped the attack dead in its tracks. Taryn landed back on the ground with an expression showing utter confusion.

"H-How…"

"You missed one detail."

"Guh-!"

Taryn was sent to the ground once more. Above her, Angel stood with her blade pointed towards her.

"Urk… You win."

In the background, a fanfare of sorts could be heard playing while the crowd let out cheers and comments.

Taryn shakily got back on her feet and looked back to Angel sheathing her sword.

"How… You were clearly very paralyzed." Angel glanced at the Jolteon and opened her mouth to speak.

"Your attack at that distance stung. While I was lucky enough not to be paralyzed, it did stun me for a moment- and when the thought occurred that I could trick you into thinking otherwise, I used that to my advantage."

"Guu… No fair."

With that, the Absol began walking away.

"…You've improved."

"Huh?"

Angel disappeared behind automated sliding doors that led back into the halls of the Resistance's largest base.

* * *

"I think it's safe to say that you're officially a celebrity."

Taryn sighed internally as she took another spoonful of soup into her mouth. The delicious and warm flavor spread throughout her sense of taste but did not do much to ease her mild nervousness about her situation.

"I was already popular enough in the Underground… Now the Resistance too?"

Rita, who was seated next to her Electric-type evolutionary counterpart giggled.

"I got to watch that on video. Everyone wants to be able to last at least that long against enemies like Angel. Add that to how you and your friends have fought off three really strong Shadow Pokémon and were the first ones to find that much helpful data against Periculum? You're about as famous as I am now."

"Well, it is pretty cool to be the center of attention and all, but… Now that I think about it, it'll be pretty scary when everyone starts asking me how to do stuff like this, it won't be very fun."

At that, the Espeon gijinka smiled.

"I used to get that a lot too. It's just something you get used to."

Taryn continued eating her soup while Rita had ramen noodles.

"Hey, hang on, when did we get that stuff again?"

"When I asked a few friends to go get some for me. It's a good thing there are a few specialized stores in the nearby towns."

"…Uh-huh."

Taryn had just remembered- Rita Azuma. There were a few who lived in Driasia whose parents or ancestors were migrated from another country where the traditions were quite different. Audrey Chiyumi- one of the seven Leaders of the Resistance was another example, but that was only guessing from her surname.

But for now, the yellow-clad gijinka thought it wise to just finis her soup and conversation with an Espeon celebrity first before anything else.

* * *

"Everything's ready. The ride will be quick and smooth, and should take us two days and a night to reach there." A man wearing black underneath a long red jacket with a segmented design stated.

"Thank you. We'll be in your care, then." Samantha said with a bow.

"Everyone's ready, I suppose?" Nathan asked.

Looking back at the team- Samantha, Nathan himself, Oscar, Taryn, Angel, and Diana were all prepared to set out on their first official mission since Angel and Diana chose to join their team.

"All set."

"Whenever you're game."

"Un."

"Ready."

* * *

The team of six set out for the South by jeep. The driver, a Scolipede kept wary of what was in front while the rest of the main cast kept their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary.

Now, with the war escalating due to the capture of a Periculum main base, Driasia was a lot less of a safe place to travel in. The need to be vigilant and keep on watch at all times only ever applied to places nearby a battlefield or when closeby areas where plenty of Periculum soldiers or Resistance troops have been spotted.

And soon, the team would learn the true horrors of war looming on their horizons.

* * *

"Claire, how's everything holding up on your end?"

On the pull-down monitor in the headquarters, a woman wearing a blue formal dress stood. Behind her, the weather seemed cloudy and cool, and snow was littered in many places.

"We're preparing for the next wave of aggressors. The first two were most likely there to test our defenses."

"And what of the people and our fighters?"

"The Resistance here is faring well under my command. I'm keeping everyone in line and those who need warmth are getting adequate amounts. Cloud City, Crystal Cove, and Taciden are all safe under the watch of my Personal Guard, but should Periculum increase their numbers, they won't be able to guarantee that when I'm fighting on the frontlines."

"I see… Frank, how's your end?"

Another window expanded on Tobias' monitor, showing a man dressed in an orange cape like a king.

"We've done well to repel our foes, Tobias. The Solar Division work quite well with my fire. I've diverted troops to secure the people, but we've had no luck in finding any of the spots Periculum has been mining in."

"Hm. Ethan, what about you?"

"Fit as a fiddle. You should have seen the looks on their faces when my troops appeared atop the hill!"

At that, the Flygon gijinka made a wry smile.

"On to the more important things… How have the Shadow Pokémon behaved?"

* * *

"Gah!"

A fat man wearing platinum-tinted clothes grunted as he fell to the ground from a simple punch.

"You have failed."

"No! It's just that there were too many enemies!" The Rock- and Steel-type retorted as he sat up and adjusted his mustache and iron hat. Yes, this was the same man that confronted the Resistance team using Cythereia back in the Slums.

"Regardless of the circumstances, you lost that battle, even though you stepped in yourself." A man's cold voice stated. "We'll be taking back our test subject now."

"This is madness!" The Probopass gijinka exclaimed. "Someone, deal with this daft man!"

The Accelgor and his companions lying in wait did not respond to the command of the fat man. The man standing above the Probopass chuckled.

As he came into the light, his features became exposed. The man donned a light tan lab coat with space for a few leaf-like protrusions growing out of his wrists. His hair was green, and his eyes were a brown that resembled that of an oak tree's wood.

"It looks like your loyal servants seem smart enough that their strength and type advantage will not save them in a battle. After all…"

The Leafeon gijinka drew out a small device filled with buttons, switches, levers, and the like.

"…I'm not fighting alone."

Behind the Leafeon, a woman in a lilac side slit dress with sleeves much longer than her own arms.

"Grr… Cythereia, why have you changed sides!?" The Probopass exclaimed, flailing about.

"I was never on your side to begin with." The Mienshao gijinka replied as her eyes shone purple. "I merely obeyed the orders of the one wielding my Phantasmal Beacon… It was as simple as that."

The Grass-type standing there smiled as he held up the Phantasmal Beacon radiating a few small red and purple waves.

"Did you really think that Project F's supervisor, let alone Periculum, would lend a Phantasmal Beacon to a man such as yourself?" The Leafeon jeered. "But alas, since it seems you so utterly failed and nearly got Rider captured, we won't make her obey you any longer."

"Grr… Damn you!"

"And for keeping our property safe, why don't you all find yourselves a better master? We'll keep you funded until then. You won't need to work for us." The Leafeon stated.

The Accelgor and his companions in business versions of their outfits all exchanged glances.

"…Offer accepted."

"What of this wretch?"

"Periculum shall deal with him accordingly… He's rather weak for his species- I think we can try turning that around."

"W-What are you… Wait, stop!"

In the next instant, all he could see was black.


	20. C20 - The Great War

Shadows in War, Segment Two, Chapter Twenty – The Great War

* * *

 _Merry Christmas and Happy New years, I guess._

 _I suck at greetings, gimme a break._

 _So I was caught up with practices for some Christmas activity at school, then break started at around the 18th. For those days, I've been sorting a few things out, and trying to get some work onto this chapter._

 _As a gift- some more information and points about characters will be revealed here. Mostly a stream of how great the main character of each part is, though. To be blunt._

 _But like I said, a few important things to the story will be revealed here._

 _This is what was and is happening during the main cast's last few days in the Slums and on their way to the South region to provide assistance in one of these battles._

 _Oh yeah, I also updated a certain character's appearance here. If you remember the part I added the British term in Segment one as my brother's request, you'll know who it is.  
_

* * *

 _-The Prodigy-_

"AAGH!"

"Someone, cover me! I got him!"

"Everyone cover him!"

Bullets, arrows, and Pokémon moves flew across the field- no, calling it a warzone would be more appropriate. The sounds of gunfire, moves, and steel clashing filled the whole area, making it a literal hell to walk in to.

A Fraxure bearing a blue Resistance scarf ducked down low and approached a Rhyhorn who was bleeding from a gash on his arm.

"I'm here, it'll be okay!" The Dragon-type exclaimed to be heard by the fallen Rock-type.

"Gugh… Look out!"

The Fraxure turned to see a Mamoswine emitting a shadowy aura coming at them at full speed.

Both the Fraxure and Rhyhorn shut their eyes tight for the inevitable end. They waited for the strike to hit.

But it never came.

"H-Huh…?"

The duo looked up to see that the attack was being blocked by a pair of short swords wielded by a short little girl in a metallic dress.

"Rgh… I was supposed to be doing just recon here." The girl remarked. "Go! I'll keep this guy busy!"

"C-Captain Audrey…" The Fraxure nodded and with some effort, managed to carefully get the Rhyhorn onto his back and walk away.

Captain Audrey Chiyumi. One of the seven Leaders of the Resistance. Despite her young age, she has proven herself as a fearsome warrior, and a good tactician as well. Dubbed the "Prodigy of the Resistance" by friend and foe alike, she alone can cut through some of the strongest forces known to the battlefield.

"Gunners, focus on the Shadow Pokémon!" Audrey commanded as she parried the Shadow Rush and shot a Flash Cannon at the Mamoswine, causing it to grunt from the super-effective move.

"You heard the Captain! Open fire!"

As the bullets coming from the Resistance's side began to focus on the Mamoswine and the closer Shadow Pokémon, Audrey took a moment to wipe the sweat off her brow.

"Geez… These guys are really going at it, aren't they?" Audrey mused. Without even having to look up, she stepped backwards to avoid a Fire Punch from a Shadow Darmanitan.

The Fire-type roared in her face, but that didn't distract Audrey enough to prevent her from using Iron Defense to effectively nullify a swing from the opponent.

"…Forgive me."

A large, sharpened stone in the shape of a spear impaled the Darmanitan from below, sending it up into the air.

But the battlefield was no place to take a break. The lower front part of Audrey's dress closed up as she charged forward, supported by a mass of Resistance soldiers wielding greatswords.

"Captain Audrey is with us! We cannot lose here! CHARGE!"

* * *

 _-Days of Yore-_

With a groan, another gijinka fell on the battlefield.

Down in the Southeast region, by the border that separates it from the Center, a massively scaled battled was taking place. The reaches of the battlefield extended from the edge of the East's and the South's borders.

The flames of war were scattered everywhere like a disease, as many fought for control of their faction over a key point in the civil war between the Resistance of Driasia and the corporate superpower Periculum.

This- this was the battle that had been raging for over five days.

A battle so large, it caused large-scale troubles for both sides.

But despite that…

Neither side could afford to yield control of three borders to the other.

"Kuh-!"

"Fall!"

"Die, die, die already!"

The shouts were drowned out by the sounds of the fighting. No matter how far you'd run, once you were in this fight, there wasn't any escaping.

Periculum's Shadow Pokémon were tearing apart the Resistance soldiers. The losses were enough to hamper the Resistance and allow Periculum to turn the tides. But what kept that from happening was the force on the Resistance's side that allowed them to keep the losses even.

"Lord Zain... We have returned."

A glance was cast from the shadow to the four figures standing there. Galvantula, Weavile, Lycanroc, and Frosslass. Each of them donned lighter outfits suited for mobility rather than defense or power.

"We have procured at least four more Night Gems." The Galvantula said with a little chitter at the end of his sentence.

"Good…"

The man hidden by the shadows of the foliage stepped into the sunlight streaming from gaps between the leaves.

The man stood at 6'0 (183cm). A purple leather tunic and a black cape covered his top, while the bottom was of black leather. A long, reptilian tail extended from his back underneath the cape. For his shoes, he wore light leather boots of high quality. His black hair was accompanied by a pair of rounded bat-like ears. Finally, his yellow eyes with one black slit each gave an intimidating gaze as he looked to the four gijinkas gathered before him.

"That will last us an extra six days with our collection, if I am not mistaken?" The Noivern gijinka queried.

"Yes, my lord." The Frosslass replied courteously.

"Hm…"

Zain took a step towards the battlefield down below the cliff. A few puddles of red were here and there, mixed in with burning structures and a multitude of other elements.

The Resistance Leader looked up to the sky- the sun was directly overhead, shining its bright light for those below to see their targets.

"…Deploy one gem."

"Your wish is my command." The Weavile stated as he drew a night black gem with small shining white dots on it.

The Dark-type leaped down towards the battlefield to be caught by a Pidgeot gijinka with the Resistance.

Zain watched the fight with indifference. Every so often, purple aura would flare at random locations. A powerful attack would raze a spot or a group of gijinkas would be torn apart- irrespective of their faction.

"We're heading out into the field on his signal. Inform our troops of the change."

"Yes, my lord."

* * *

 _-The Kraken-_

On the Northwestern coastline, close to the border of the West region, the weather was predicted to be clear and pleasant.

Instead, smoke and fire coated the sky. The sound of cannons being fired, blades clashing, moves colliding, guns firing, and bowstrings being pulled echoed throughout the shores of Driasia.

The coastline was littered with plenty of ships flying either no colors or the Periculum flag. Periculum's ships numbered around 48, while the Resistance's numbered only 37, with 5 gunboats and cutters on the side.

"Load chain shots into the forecastle guns!"

"Aye, Captain!" The crew responded, bringing the chain shots to the cannons.

One particular ship flying a white flag outlined blue sailed around a number of Periculum ships with a few hull breaches and damaged keels. The flag had a green line going straight through the middle vertically, with a yellow sphere in the center. A sky blue X-like shape went through the flag, but were separated by the sphere.

On this ship, the captain issuing orders was a short man donning a snow white long sleeved t-shirt and an ice blue vest. He wore light blue pants held up by a dark blue leather belt. The belt also carried three pouches and two pistol holsters. A pair of snow cold eyes looked forward to a schooner flying Periculum's flag.

"Fire!" The ship quartermaster ordered. The sound of four long guns firing was heard next. Within moments, the sails of the Gaff rigged schooner tumbled down with a great cracking sound from the masts as they began to leen and tilt with the damages sustained.

"To the port, Sir!" A Furret scout cried as a frigate closed in on them.

"Hm." The Shiny Glaceon gijinka gave orders to fire the port broadside cannons.

The Frigate quickly sank, unable to endure the onslaught of Le Paroi de Fer's mighty cannons.

However, the frigate was only one down out of a storm.

"A Man O' War and two Frigates to the Starboard bow, Captain!"

In response, Benjamin steered his ship to the left to get the starboard of his vessel to face the trio of great warships.

"Aim and fire!" An Eevee gijinka commanded.

The ship's fire was concentrated mostly on the man o' war with a few carronades aimed for the frigates.

The ships took some damage, but were otherwise still standing. The man o' war got into position and released a barrage of cannonballs from the forecastle, while the two frigates supporting it followed suit.

However, majority of the cannonballs sled off Le Paroi's hull like they were nothing.

"Ah, nothing like master Lausian craftsmanship."

The speaker was a short girl with a white t-shirt under a yellow leather jacket and skirt. Sarah Rose, the partner of the captain, Benjamin Varim.

The sailors were quick to load the cannons with more shot and powder. The broadside of Benjamin's ship lit up as cannons began to fire once more, sinking all three warships.

From the port-quarter of the ship, another vessel had fired a deadly nine-pound volley, but the shot went wide and alerted the fresh snow sea captain.

Benjamin span the capstan to get closer to the attacker, both warships approaching one another. By the time both vessels were close enough, Benjaim ordered his crew to load grapeshot into the port broadside and fire on the brig, aiming for the decks.

The Periculum brig's crew was devastated as grapeshot was fired on them and once the barrage of cannon fire was over, not a single soul could be seen from the wreck.

"They've got reinforcements." Sarah stated. In the distance, more ships flying Periculum's flag were approaching from the north.

A Resistance gunboat ran aground, on fire, as the magazine was going up, and soon, an explosin followed, damaging a Periculum Barque.

"Ketch by the rigging, to the portside, sir!"

"Wait… is that Ketch on fire?" Sarah mused.

"They plan on suicide ramming us with tones of gunpowder!" Benjamin exclaimed.

"Fire the Portside cannons!" the Eevee commanded.

A hail of cannonballs rained on the burning vessel, sinking it before it could continue its kamikaze.

A brig fitted with a ram with Periculum's colors crashed into Benjamin's ship. Shortly after, the sound of footsteps on wood caught the crew's attention.

They were being boarded.

The archers atop Benjamin's ship did all they could, but had to take cover as well as the main crew to avoid getting shot by the modern firearms Periculum wielded in contrast to the muskets, flintlocks, and older weapons the Lausian sailors had.

Battling began on the decks as Periculum suddenly met the prowess of Benjamin's crew in a fight of blades. The blades of the Lausian crew's arms were of finer make than that of the corporate weaponry the foes were used to.

"Damn, those guys are good… Release the Shadow Pokémon!"

From the Periculum brig, about twelve Pokémon exuding an invisible shadowy aura stepped onto the deck of Le Paroi De Fer.

"Look out!"

One of Benjamin's crewmen armed with a partisan was having a little difficult blocking the Shadow Rush of a Carvanha.

Two more worked together to be able to counterattack against a Carnivine's attack, while one crewman cast a kind of magic spell similar to the move Protect to defend against a Drowzee's Shadow Wave.

"Captain, watch your right!" One of the crewmen called before shooting at a Clawitzer.

The Shiny Glaceon gijinka blocked a tackle of evil executed by a Kricketune letting out a low chitter.

Within the next moment, Benjamin parried the blow, sending the Bug-type Shadow Pokémon back.

The boarding continued as the Periculum crew greatly outnumbered Benjamin's. This normally would not be a problem, if not for the aggression and persistence of the Shadow Pokémon attacking.

Soon enough, a barkentine rammed into Le Paroi, shaking everyone for just a moment before the fighting resumed.

"We've got more company!" Sarah exclaimed as she stabbed a Raticate with her knife, forcing the Normal-type back with a feral growl.

Benjamin turned his eyes to the barquentine. More soldiers in grayish white armor plating began boarding the ship, armed to the teeth with broadswords, greatswords, polearms, and axes. Along with them were a group of Pokémon with purple shines in their eyes, few armed with weapon and wearing armor.

A Houndour's Shadow Wave managed to scratch one of Benjamin's archers. The man let out a grunt as the super-effective blow to his arm forced him to nearly fall off his perch. A Croagunk's Poison Jab nearly missed, but had clear killing intent as Sarah could see, as she sliced against the opponent.

"Sir, we won't be able to handle that many of those things!"

True- the Shadow Pokémon were ruthless killers who would not stop attacking until their targets were all dead or they themselves were knocked out. If any more came in, then the battle would last longer and in the long run, Benjamin and his crew would lose out of exhaustion. That was of course, assuming the Shadow moves did not defeat them first.

"We have no choice! We must defeat the Shadows first!" The captain declared as he ran his hatchet into a Venipede exuding a purplish silk.

Soon enough, two of Benjamin's crewmates were rushed to safety to avoid losing a limb from a freakishly strong Shadow-type tackle from a Throh.

Benjamin and Sarah glared daggers at a large number of Pokémon preparing shadow moves aimed for them. Before they could all connect, though, a fierce tornado of leaves blasted the decks in front of them, dispelling the force of the shadow moves and sending a few flying out of the ship.

An Arbok gijinka roared, going through the moves to deliver a Shadow Break with a greatsword against Benjamin and Sarah about a meter away. Before it could get any further, though, a blade of psychic energy slammed into it from the side, sending it to the ground in a heap.

The next thing the two knew, blades of air started slicing away at the Periculum soldiers distracting Benjamin's crewmen, allowing them to fight back the Shadow Pokémon attacking them without as much trouble.

"Did the Resistance just send backup?" Sarah asked as she relaxed her stance for a moment.

"That would be us, buddy!"

The duo looked up to see a young boy who seemed nineteen floating in midair with the use of an _electric fan on his back_. He was giving the two a mischievous smile that seemed inappropriate for their current situation. He was swaying one hand to control the eight Air Slash blades moving around the decks, slashing into the Periculum forces.

"Are the two of you yet in good condition?" A more grown up masculine voice asked. They then turned to their right to see a man wielding a pair of short broadswords. He donned a green cape over pure white armor. A red spike-like protrusion extended from his chest, and his eyes were a calming red.

"In finer condition than we would have been if you didn't show up. Thanks." Sarah replied.

"You have our gratitude, but we cannot go to introductions just yet." Benjamin stated.

"Aw, boring. Meh, I'll do it anyway!" The Rotom stated as he stopped waving his hand, causing the blades of air to vanish. He then summoned up a shield around his form to block a Shadow Wave sent by a Gastrodon. "I'm Specter of the Resistance!"

The Gallade gijinka sighed.

"Do excuse him." The Psychic-type said before slashing backwards with one sword, then twirling to use the other sword to block a Water Pulse. "But I suppose it is common courtesy to at least know one's name. I am Excalibur of the Resistance."

A Shelgon exuding an overwhelming aura came at them, but was stopped cold in its tracks by a Dragon Pulse. The Dragon-type roared and threw a few Shadow Waves around it, but ended up being struck by a pair of daggers from above.

The figure that landed before them exuded a beauty like no other. She stood at 5'9 (175cm) and donned a regal green dress that was opened to the left side. Her boots looked to be made of emeralds and gold. Green hair touched her waistline, and she carried with her a thin longsword in her right hand. She turned, revealing a pair of red eyes that exuded an aura of power. Overall, she felt like a queen.

"Sparks, we're in the middle of a fight." The woman said casually, as if they weren't on the brink of life and death. "Fine, then. It's a pleasure to meet you both, Mister Varim and Miss Rose." The woman took a bow as she sheathed her blade. "I am Queen of the Resistance."

"You needn't formalities around us." Benjamin responded.

The Serperior gijinka's lips curled into a smile as she stood up.

"Very well, then. Shall we?" The Grass-type queried.

"There's still a ship's worth of Periculum dolts and Shadow Pokémon on board, so, yes." Sarah stated as the five Pokémon rushed back into the fight on the decks.

" _Somehow… This woman feels familiar._ "

* * *

 _-Unyielding-_

Gathered around this small part of the field were plenty of Resistance Pokémon busying themselves with a variety of tasks. Medics were busy treating the injured, fighters were preparing for war, the chefs were hard at work cooking, and the like.

Atop an elevated location within the area were a few walls of cloth to surround three sides of a space of four square meters. Within this space was a man wearing an earthen brown vest over a white shirt. Over the vest was a brown cape cut in two at the middle. He wore a pair of brown formal pants leading to a pair of brown boat shoes. On the man's head was a beige crest accessory. He wore a pair of reading glasses over his closed eyes, and to finish the look, he wore a pair of black formal gloves.

Overall, he looked like he was going to a party in the sixties.

Around him were a couple of shelves, a couch, a computer being operated by an Ampharos, as well as a Kirlia, Oranguru, and Musharna all sitting or standing around with closed eyes.

"Issue archer units three through five to the sidelines. Have four speed units accompany them." The Noctowl said.

"As you wish, Sir Sebastian." The Ampharos stated. "Archer units three through five, deploy to sidelines. Speed units one through four, act as escorts."

Sir Sebastian Ludendorff- The Brains of the Resistance. While not known for his fighting, his years of experience combined with talent for tactics have made him about as deadly a leader as Ethan. Thanks to Sebastian's command through telepathy and machinery, he could survey an entire battlefield from many different angles and issue orders to any individual on the battlefield in mere seconds.

Despite that, he was, like the others, plagued by the conundrum of Shadow Pokémon.

"Have the front forces retreat for now and recover their strength. Send in CQC Units eight through ten and Elemental Units six through eight to take their place." Sebastian stated.

The Ampharos on the computer repeated Sebastian's command in a smooth voice and continued typing in data on the PC.

"Sir Sebastian…" The Oranguru mouthed. "I've reports from Scouts Eight and Nine that they're sending in defensive Shadow Pokémon up front."

"What shall we do, Sebastian?" The Musharna queried quietly.

"Dispatch Wallbreaker Units One through Seven. Have Sniper Units Four and Six support them. Keep Sniper Unit Five on watch."

"Copy that, Sir."

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, everything was going exactly as the Noctowl had instructed and the scouts had informed. His telepathic eye, assisted by the three Psychic-types, surveyed the state of battle.

It was as if it was a game from his perspective. The Pokémon were the pieces, and the battlefield was the board. On one side was the Leader's encampment, and on the other, a small Periculum stronghold.

"Hm…" The Noctowl thought as the Pokémon below got even busier. As ordered earlier, plenty of injured Resistance gijinkas were seeing their wounds tended to by the medics scattered across the encampment.

"Sir Ludendorff." The Noctowl snapped out of his thoughts and issued the three psychics to take over. Sebastian then opened his eyes to see the man who greeted him.

A young man donning pure white armor (as opposed to Periculum's grayish white) stood before Sebastian. The chestplate was designed with blue and red triangles in the center, while the leggings were of light design, clearly made for swift movements. A pair of smooth, cloud-like wings adorned his back, and on his head was a triple edged crown with one edge blue, one edge red, and the center edge white.

"Yes, Artemis?" Sebastian replied.

"I've spotted a secondary Periculum force en route for the frontlines. They're a few clicks northwards from this location." The Togekiss gijinka, Artemis replied.

With a nod of acknowledgement, Sebastian closed his eyes once more and mentally instructed the Oranguru and Musharna to keep tabs on the main field. To the young Kirlia who only seemed to be in her teens, he instructed for her to assist him in scoping out the north.

" _Nellie, can you handle this?_ " Sebastian queried.

" _I… I will do my best._ " The Kirlia, Nellie, replied.

" _Good. Let us proceed._ "

* * *

 _-Under the Sun-_

Steel clashed and ground against each other as the warriors fought for control. However, one blade- a katana donning a rounded green grip won over the greatsword of the Onix gijinka in light gray armor.

"Guah!" The Rock-type roared as he was sent back. The master of the katana instantly whipped around to block then parry a strike from the axe of a Tauros.

"I was going to call that one for you."

To the right was a blonde with a green tank top holding a pair of pistols in either hand.

"Yeah, well my experience isn't for nothing." The samurai-like fighter replied.

Edmund Spencer and Amanda May- two of the Resistance Elite Team's Solar Division. Edmund, a Sceptile gijinka, held years of experience almost equivalent to his own life and was a master of the sword, while Amanda, a Bellossom played the supporting role of the team by keeping the sun shining bright for their moves to work well.

The Onix gijinka roared at them, now standing at a towering twenty nine feet, getting ready to slam his now enlargened greatsword down onto the two.

Edmund and Amanda stood calmly, as if this was within their expectations.

A concentrated bundle of light covered the Onix's figure instantly, eliciting a roar of agony from the beast-like gijinka. When the light beam faded away, the opponent was back to six feet and was fallen on the ground.

"You did that on purpose to look cool." A larger sounding voice said as it approached them.

The duo looked to their left to see a tall man donning brown robes and leaf scarves.

"Well, even if we weren't there, you would have Solarbeamed that guy to oblivion." Edmund replied.

The last of the Solar Division- Delbert Morris. A Tropius gijinka wielding an axe who served as the team's heavy hitter. Under the sun, he can produce berries with his Harvest ability while devastating foes with a variety of powerful moves such as Solarbeam and Earthquake.

"In case you three have forgotten, we are on a battlefield." The trio turned to face the speaker with a French accent.

There stood a man donning regal robes of fiery orange and red, and a yellow fur cape. His orange boots literally sparked with fire each step he took on the battlefield, and on to of his head was a crown fit for kings of older ages. In his hands was a long sword set ablaze. He had the look of a king on the battlefield, fighting alongside his people for victory.

"Oh, don't worry, Duke Frank. We haven't forgotten." Amanda replied and shot a couple of bullets towards a Politoed attempting a Rain Dance.

"Well then, we should get back to work. Those Shadows won't fight themselves anytime soon." The Flareon gijinka, Duke Frank responded before slashing forward to meet the javelin of a Dodrio gijinka.

"Very well, then…" Delbert mused before inhaling, then shooting another massive Solarbeam that devastated an entire row of Periculum fighters.

However, out of that blast, a Ferrothorn fairly unharmed charged forward emitting a purplish aura.

"Burn in hell."

A Fire Blast torched the Ferrothorn, sending the Shadow Pokémon down to the ground with nasty burns coating its body.

"Hm…" Frank examined the Grass- and Steel-type's body. The Resistance Leader's ear twitched before he swung his sword with all his might to slice through a boulder hurled at him from afar.

"As I'd expect from yourself, Duke." Edmund remarked.

"As much as I hate to say it, this one won't be getting back up." The Fire-type stated. "There goes another chance to capture one of these guys, and with it, another soul."

The Solar Division nodded solemnly before heading back out into the field.

* * *

 _-Heart of Ice-_

Snow fell onto a mass of gijinkas gathered on a field of pure white stained with dirt, mud, blood, and corpses. The weather which should have been gentle gave a sense of sorrow as all those beneath it were at war.

"We won't last much longer here!"

"The Shadow Pokémon are too strong!"

The battle here in the Southwest was not going as well as the Resistance would have liked. Some of their forces were impeded by the weather and terrain, and their opponents were Shadow Pokémon- they wouldn't care about anything but the total destruction of their opponent.

That, and they were caught off guard when multiple Periculum battalions began marching for Cloud City, the city that those in the southwestern region stayed in.

"If this keeps up… We're going to lose!"

"We need backup!"

"Our backup was defeated a long time ago!"

As time dragged on, things grew worse and worse for the Resistance. As they were being pushed back, more and more Shadow Pokémon appeared on the scene to accelerate the Resistance's demise.

"Gah!" A Gabite gijinka shouted in pain as he dropped to the ground from the impact of a high caliber bullet striking him in the torso. "It's too bloody cold here…!"

The Resistance around were falling back, trying to carry as many injured as they possibly could.

A roar of fury bellowed directly in front of where the Dragon-type was previously standing. He sat up slightly to be able to see the source of the noise.

Much to his dismay, a Bouffalant exuding an aura of evil and dread was standing before him, breathing out a white mist from the cold climate. The aura around him charged into an energy that enveloped the Normal-type Shadow Pokémon, indicating that this was the killing blow.

The Gabite spat at the Bouffalant's feet.

"Had the circumstances been more favorable, I would have gone down way later." The Ground-type remorsefully mused as he watched the angered opponent bring his hand down.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Resistance troops had stopped running away. They, along with the Periculum soldiers, had stopped for a moment to gaze upon a lone figure standing before the Resistance as if to block their path.

But that was far from her intentions. The woman, clad in an elegant whitish blue and blue diamond dress, raised a hand.

When she did, a fierce blizzard blew from behind her, forcing the Resistance to duck down slightly. The attack however, did not harm them.

Instead, it completely tore apart the Periculum forces giving chase.

"What… It's cold as Hell's Ninth Circle, but…" The Gabite shakily got back to his feet, using a spear dropped nearby him for support. When he looked around, his allies were moving forward to the place they were just about to lose.

"We shall not be defeated here!" A woman's voice echoed across the battlefield, followed by a resounding cheer from the Resistance. "No matter the opposition, we shall not break!"

Another cheer, and the trampling of the freezing soldiers followed that next sentence.

"For if we are defeated here, then who will keep the people of Driasia safe in this area!? None!"

"OORAAH!"

Slowly but surely, the Resistance were pushing back. The woman flipped her hair to clear her vision and looked forward.

"L-Lady Claire…" The Gabite mumbled as he took in the appearance of the Resistance Leader standing before him.

"For our friends, for our family, for everyone past this point- and for those who gave their lives to keep this position…" Claire trailed off as she summoned another howling Blizzard attack to slow and damage even more of the enemy's forces. "We WILL win!"

With one more battle cry, the Resistance charged in with all their strength against the foes. The snow which had impeded them earlier was now moving according to each individual's need, adjusting to trap the Periculum foes and to speed up the Resistance.

Within Claire's free hand was a large pinkish gem, emanating a brilliant light. It moved the snow across the battlefield to her liking, and gave her small amounts of Telepathy to allow her to see to the need of each soldier.

The strain of that task was drowned out by the adrenaline flowing through the Glaceon's veins.

Still, at a certain point, the Shadow Pokémon and the Periculum forces, now having regained their composure, began fighting back as well. A stalemate occurred here, and in the long run, would spell out the doom of the Resistance there, even with Claire's speech.

The Glaceon sighed as she knew that her presence and Blizzard support would not be enough.

"To protect those who fight under my command… To protect those who have sacraficed so much to assist me… To protect those who cannot fight for themselves… The heart that beats for the weak shall freeze- and likewise, freeze all those that stand in its path."

Claire raised her right arm into the air, causing the weather to become darker and ice crystals to begin falling from the sky as well as snow. Knowing she would be damaging both sides, she cast another move- an Aurora Veil to protect the entire Resistance battalion.

With whatever energy was left in the gem, Claire rained down large blocks of ice not dissimilar to a Icicle Crash, except on a much, much larger scale.

"Soldiers… Charge."

* * *

 _-Pressure of the Earth-_

A great pressure befell the battlefield, hampering down all those fighting within.

Even those who were the allies of the source.

"Kuh-"

"Ah…"

Two Resistance soldiers' lives were cut short by a heavy two pronged spear. Their corpses were tossed aside like trash as the great warrior took a deep breath, sampling the fresh scent of blood and death surrounding him.

"They should let me out more often…"

A man donning heavy earthen brown armor coated with dirt and blood stood smiling at the war he was caught in, as if enjoying it. From the back of his head to his forehead, and the back of his hands and arms, the armor was fashioned into a sort of weapon with sharp edges.

On the front of his armor was a slash mark of blood, as if someone was to defeat him. However, here he stood, slaughtering all those within his path.

As more purple and beige waves passed him, the Excadrill gijinka roared.

"It's time to kill some more." The Ground-type mused before rushing forward with the armor on his hands closing up with that on his head to make him an impervious drill.

The attack struck down a few more of the Resistance's Pokémon, sending them flying. More began to surge out of a few trenches to meet the Shadow Pokémon in battle.

But the Subterrene Pokémon was not at all frightened or nervous- no, the amount of enemies only seemed to make him happier.

"Let me show you my power… The power that I, Tebaeus, have been bestowed!"

Tebaeus slammed one of his spikes into the earth, causing a light shockwave that barely reached the Resistance. But what followed was an attack that literally tore the Resistance standing before him to shreds.

From the ground, purple spikes stabbed into the Pokémon, leaving behind holes in their bodies or large wounds bleeding profusely.

Under the pressure of the Shadow Pokémon, the Resistance crumbled. Even the Periculum soldiers fighting alongside him were affected by the pressure he exerted with Mold Breaker.

"H-H-He's a monster! Run!"

Before the trooper could get away, another Shadow Rave stabbed into his leg, eliciting a scream of pure agony.

* * *

 _-Merciless-_

"Hm…"

A man wearing a beige lab coat stood in the safety of a small, open airship raining hell down on the Pokémon below- specifically aiming at all those wearing the Resistance emblem.

Leaf-like protrusions extended from his wrists. His eyes were a brown resembling that of wood, but they reflected no light in them. Instead, those eyes carried a much more dreadful aura.

"GUAAAAHHH!"

About some one hundred feet below where the battle was raging, a pair of figures stood out from the crowd. One was a slim woman donning a blood-stained lilac side slit dress with sleeves much longer than they should be. The other was a rather bulky man donning platinum armor, screaming in agony as a few blasts from the Resistance hit him.

Cythereia obliterated the opposition with much more ease, now that she was taking commands from someone who knew how to use a Phantasmal Beacon to its fullest. Meanwhile, the Probopass gijinka- her former master- was suffering simply by existing.

"It seems that he too cannot handle the effects of being a Shadow Pokémon…" The Leafeon gijinka mused as he watched them from above with a larger version of Cythereia's Phantasmal Beacon to his side. "That makes eight-hundred-sixty-three subjects who crumbled under the process."

"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" The screams of the Probopass went unheard through the sounds of war.

Cythereia, knowing she could not dodge the next hit, shoved her former master into the way to let him take the hit.

"Surprisingly, though, he makes a useful wall." The Grass-type mumbled as he recorded the data onto a tablet.

With that Hydro Pump, the Probopass gijinka cried in pain, but still would not go down.

Not when the Phantasmal Beacon forced him to stay conscious and distorted his brain.

"Fall." Cythereia mumbled as she leapt over the Steel-type and sent multiple Shadow Waves towards the Resistance, downing the Hydro Pumping Poliwrath and a Raichu about to let loose a Discharge.

"Interesting… A Phantasmal Beacon, despite its properties being made specifically for a certain type of Shadow Pokémon, still has powerful effects on others regardless of their type and strength…"

* * *

 _-Unknown-_

Meanwhile, somewhere within the Northeastern region, still another battle was taking place.

Unlike the other battles, neither side had a leader, powerful boss, or any kind of support. It was a classic war of wits and strength.

But within the cover of rocks, structures, and carts across the battlefield, a figure swerved around the area, silently and painlessly knocking out both Resistance and Periculum soldiers.

" _Hm… This place is bo-ring._ " Azul thought as she knocked out a Linoone. " _But I do need to get back into this_ …"

The girl in just a simple, dull blue dress hid within a damaged cart to evade detection from a Swellow up above.

"Let's have a little lightning…" Azul mumbled while fake shivering, then giggled as she drew out a yellow gem that dissolved in her hands.

The next thing she knew, thunderbolts rained down onto the battlefield outside and bird Pokémon gijinkas could be seen falling from the sky.

Azul whistled in awe at the sight of plenty of people receiving some moderate damage from the thunderbolts, but none were enough to really knock anyone out- for the most part, many were paralyzed.

"Sweet. Now…"

* * *

 _-The President's Right Hand-_

"M'lady… We've made good progress so far in our ambush. However, it seems that the entrance of the Resistance Leaders has made things more difficult in six different battlefields."

The speaker, a Gliscor gijinka, raised his head after he spoke. In this dimly lit room, a large monitor displayed a map of Driasia- marking out all the battle zones with yellow. Periculum's insignia was found on a mechanical blue banner hanging on one of the walls.

"On the contrary, the deployments of Tebaeus, Cythereia, Marmalade, and Maiandria have proven to be wise choices. The battles they are fighting shall end soon, and with it, the Resistance's control of those areas." A Scizor stated.

"Anaxos has not yet been found, my lady. Evadne has finished her testing and will be deployed to the field very soon."

"Finally, Deukalion and Teresias will finish their testing soon. As for the Volcarona and the Umbreon girls, they are still within the first few phases."

A figure sitting in the darkness took in the information of all these reports.

"Send word to every last member to inform the higher-ups if Anaxos is spotted. Have our head scientist run a scan on all active Phantasmal Beacons. Results are to be sent to me within four days time. And lastly, I'd like it if we could search for any of the Leaders' potential weaknesses. Anything we can use will satisfy me, regardless of how small."

"Yes, my lady."

The four Pokémon bowed down before leaving the room. Light poured into the room for just a moment as a door opened to let the four out.

The figure remained in the darkness. She appraised the screen displaying Driasia's battles.

Alone, she had sat there, checking the status of each battle through UAV, through camera, and through any other means possible.

Figuring she was bored enough, despite the amount of wanton death she had been watching for the past few days, she made her way to the door opposite the one the four reporters came from.

The door opened to a staircase. The figure strode through the stairs, despite how poor visibility was due to darkness, and reached the top of the staircase.

Once she reached up there, the cool night air blew past her. Her short white hair gently fluttered in the breeze.

The figure took a few steps forward. She was on the rooftop of one of Periculum's remaining two main bases, staring up into the starry night sky.

However, stargazing was not what was on the girl's mind.

"The war is a lot less brutal than I had hoped for."

The voice was strangely familiar.

"Ah, if only I had this company's _other_ trump card… If only that person wasn't missing right now." The girl said wistfully, but with an air of dread around her tone.

Her lips curled into the shape of the crescent moon up above.

"Oh when?" The girl asked playfully. She leaded her arms clad in white sleeves that went down to her elbows onto the glass railing. "When will you show yourself? This war will escalate until even you cannot hide among the masses…"

The girl licked her lips. A pair of piercing red eyes narrowed as they gazed into the distant flames.

"…Subject A. Oh, but that is much too synthetic." The girl remarked. "Instead… What shall use to refer to you when we meet again… Dear sister?"

With a chuckle, the girl turned. Her snow white cape trailed behind her as she walked back to her study.

" _Despite our differences now… You were the one who said before… That no matter how far apart, we'd always share the same sky, the same stars, sister…_ " The girl's smile widened.

"And that would mean you would never leave Driasia."

* * *

Somewhere on the border of the Center and South regions, a small campfire kept a group of travelers warm. Three tents were pitched, and six Pokémon were sharing a pleasant meal of ribs and steak.

A Meloetta in Pirouette form, a Braixen, a Jolteon, a Decidueye, a Floatzel, and an Absol.

The Absol looked up to the night sky, where the mourning voices of the resting where sent each night.

"Angel?"

The Absol gijinka then returned her gaze to normal level, to find the Braixen, Samantha Autumn looking at her.

"What'cha thinking about?" The Jolteon, Taryn Bailey, queried.

"…"

"Nervous since you'll be on the battlefield for a change?" The Floatzel, Oscar Trevin, asked.

"Not in the slightest." Angel replied.

"I'd like to think that someone like her would be a little psyched for what's to come." The Meloetta, Diana Arilinia stated. "Someone as strong as her will get a taste of war."

"Yes… I know for a fact that mercenaries almost never go to the battlefields of war." The Decidueye, Nathan Shaw added.

Angel looked back southwards to their destination.

She was aware of everything. Of her current situation, of the turmoil within the Resistance trying to find and capture a live Shadow Pokémon, and especially of both sides trying to find the rogue Shadow Pokémon.

And here she sat, contemplating it all. Amongst a band of gijinkas she had grown a slight attachment to.

They were lucky in the Resistance, that much she had noticed. They had recently been coming across plenty of data that only Periculum should have known. So, she stayed with them.

Eventually, they would lead her to her goal. She had already picked up on the plans of her target. All that was left to do was to collect more information, collect more history, and of course, deal with…

"… _Subject A._ "

Angel narrowed her eyes and felt a pang of disgust at using the name. It was a name she disliked hearing, and it belonged to someone she disliked having to deal with.

She knew she would end up having to deal with the identity of Subject A quite soon at the rate they were going. And she knew this meant she would have to make a decision quickly.

Because if she didn't, then Periculum would likely capture their target- and if that happened, it would spell out the end of Angel's quest.


	21. C21 - Battleground of Shadows

" _Hey, Fi…"_

" _If you're still there…"_

"… _Please, say or do something."_

" _I'll keep working… And one day, we'll see each other again."_

* * *

Shadows in War, Segment Two, Chapter Twenty One – Battleground of Shadows

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: Shade has absolutely nothing to do with Pokemon. I'm just a consumer here writing a story around a little kid's idea for Mega Absol when it came out. And if the protagonist's name in this story wasn't a dead giveaway, then here it is.  
**_

 _It's been a LONG time since I updated, hasn't it? Well, no more worries, because school is officially over(it has been since mid-March, actually but I've STILL been busy) and now I'll have the time to be writing again! So, as part of my grand entrance, this chapter will come with the updated versions for Chapters nine and ten! Wootwoot._

 _Now that I finally have time to write, expect some new content. I mentioned in the Chapter 10 update that I'm finally free of school for the time being, so yaaaaaay. The stuff I said I was going to bring out- I'll see to it that it does come out, and hopefully in a way that you readers will enjoy._

 _I also added a neat new character towards the end- who'll be showing up within a few chapters or so. For those of you who have played FRLG or even the very first versions, you're probably going to love her once you find out what she is. But I won't say anymore, because that's spoilers, I suppose._

 _And a sorry for being so late. Or not updating. Business combined with a pinch of writer's block and accidentally finding good loot in BL2 & FFXV: Comrades (plus the Fire superboss defeat playing as Yoshino) have kept me. But now, I'll be back to updating as fast as I can, with my focus being on quality- as much as possible, anyway. _

_-Update: I fixed the lines and edited the bit at the end. Like I said in Chapter 22, it's our little secret for those who saw those embarrassing mistakes. ^_^;_

 _Without further ado..._

* * *

"Good Arceus…"

At Nathan's words, the rest of the team: an Absol mercenary, a Braixen mage, a Jolteon hacker, a Floatzel lancer, and a Meloetta rogue, approached the cliifside to see the view.

There wasn't a pleasant land blooming with joy and life. No, it depicted the suffering of thousands. The forces of the Resistance stood on one side to the left, fighting desperately against the superpower Periculum on the right. A few moves were thrown that the team did not recognize, all coming from a select few individuals on Periculum's side, undoubtedly Shadow Pokémon.

"Let's get a move on."

* * *

"Let's see… Decidueye, Braixen, Jolteon, Floatzel, Absol… and a Meloetta. That's the last of reinforcements for now."

A Linoone gijinka sporting a military uniform stood before the team, examining them carefully.

"So, you're the team who got us all that info in the raid in the city up north and in Virtue City, huh?"

"Yes." Samantha responded. "What can we do to help?"

"First thing's first. I'll be briefing all of you teams on the situation here."

The Linoone gijinka led the team through the encampment, issuing orders to and taking information from other Resistance units passing by. Once a few other teams gathered about, the Linoone looked to the field and took a deep breath.

"We're fighting a losing battle." The Normal-type commander begun. "I don't know if you've heard, but it seems that Periculum is aware of our knowledge on their Projects. Their response came in the form of the many ambushes on towns, outposts, and even cities all across Driasia. To top it all off, every battlefield now has Shadow Pokémon using us as guinea pigs."

Shadow Pokémon. By unknown means, they became soulless killing machines incapable of emotions such as remorse. Since the revelation of Project Shadow to the Resistance, Angel and her team have tasted their capabilities twice- once during their raid on the desert outpost by the northern borders of the country, and second during their raid on the third primary base. Efforts to capture a living sample have been in vain, as Periculum always took care to keep any defeated Shadows away from capture, or to kill them.

"Hang on, you mentioned 'ambushes.' I don't think you can pull off so many ambushes this big." A Roselia stated.

"We don't know how they did it either." The commander replied. "Everyone is baffled that Periculum's forces were all completely invisible- to radar, Flying-, and Psychic-type Pokémon. They all appeared out of nowhere, and that's how we got stuck in this predicament." With a loud scream audible even where they were, everyone looked to see a flare of purple unlike Posion- and Ghost-type moves tearing apart on spot on the battlefield.

"Damn…"

"At the rate this is going, we're going to lose this place to Periculum. And that'll spell trouble for all the Pokémon living in the area."

"What can we do?" A Zebstrika queried.

"Now, most of you are specialized teams. Since each of you can play different roles, I'm assigning all of you to the sidelines of the field." At his request, a Weepinbell came and displayed a map helpd by vines. "You'll split into two divisions- half of you go to their flank through the north, the others go through the south. Flank them, burn their supplies, and see what intel you can obtain."

* * *

Everyone brainstormed immediately after. Within thirty minutes, not a single Resistance team should be present within the encampment. As for our favorite six gijinkas, they were headed around the northern end of the field, around the place they came from where a forest and a cliff were stationed.

"I'll go infiltrate their camp and start messing up their supplies."

"The rest of us will flank them and reduce the pressure on the frontline for our buddies fighting out there."

That was the plan. Taryn, accompanied by Diana and a few others, would handle Periculum's supplies and storages, while Angel and the rest were planning on catching the enemy in a pincer attack. Although their numbers were fewer compared to the larger units of the Resistance, the small teams were usually more coordinated to be able to handle plenty of situations without making too much of a scene.

Angel observed the war raging just a short distance away. Piercing red eyes observed the moves made by each individual, and judged- based on intuition, experience, and aftereffects, which of them were wiser than the other, or who had more power.

That's right- Angel paid close attention to small details within the battle. The Shadow-type moves were powerful, indeed, but in the end, they were nothing more than super-effective moves. With strategy, even Shadow Pokémon could be dealt with.

Yes, this thinking- this is what would be needed for the battle later.

" _I'm ready._ " Angel took a deep breath, steeling her resolve. " _I'll see this through to the end._ "

* * *

The near silent sounds of the Resistance's footsteps on the grass were drowned out by the sounds of fighting just a few units away from them.

Hidden in the forestry area were a number of Pokémon donning the Resistance emblem. The main cast's companions included Nidorino, Panpour, Staravia, Luxio, Roselia, Sneasel, and Sandshrew. The group headed for the supplies and intel were Taryn, Diana, the Sneasel, and Sandshrew, while the rest would take the flank.

"It's just a little further." The Luxio gijinka mused. He was armed with a lance carrying a blade fashioned into a lightning bolt.

"Hey, you know what would be the worst case scenario right now?" The Sneasel asked. In either of his hands were well taken care of daggers, looking sharp enough to puncture at a touch.

"Ivan, please don't jinx us." The Roselia stated, earning a few chuckles from the others. She was carrying a staff of sorts with her.

"If they have those Shadow Pokémon stacked up in the sidelines."

"Heh, yeah, that'd be terrible." The Nidorino responded. His weapon was a mace lined with small slots, likely seeping with poison.

"I know, right?" Taryn added.

"It's a lot worse getting hit by those things than you might think." Nathan commented, seeming to remember the feeling of being hit with a dual disadvantage- something new for him due to Grass- and Ghost-types not having any like disadvantages.

"Not to mention that they hit HARD." Oscar added,

"Well, let's just hope things keep going like this." The Panpour gijinka said. As for this Water-type, he was armed with a shortsword slung to his back.

The procession traveled quietly without any event. Just light chatter and looks of sympathy for the soldiers out on the front lines, taking all the fire.

"Wait." At Samantha's words, everyone stopped. Angel looked around and listened closely for further movement.

"I don't detect anyone here." The Absol mercenary mumbled.

"Neither do I." The Sandshrew added. In her right hand was a medium-length, thick-bladed axe.

"What is it, Samantha?"

"I just realized something." The Braixen mage replied to the Meloetta. "This battle has been going on for a few days now, right?"

"Uh-huh…"

"…If going to the sidelines is an advantage, then…"

Nathan, the Panpour warrior, the Sandshrew axewoman, and Angel all seemed to realize what their fire mage was going at.

"Why, what does that mean?" The Staravia questioned. A revolver could be found in his pistol holster.

"We're not alone here." The Panpour stated.

The group progressed further, being much more wary than earlier for any attackers nearby. It didn't help that a literal war was being waged just a short distance away. It wouldn't be as easy to notice an ambush waiting for them up ahead.

"It's just up ahead." The Luxio stated.

"I guess this is where we split?" Oscar asked. The group of infiltrators all exchanged looks and bounded off for the base.

"Alright, our turn."

"Let's make this messy."

"You mean painful…"

"Whatever."

"AH!"

The group of Pokémon turned back to the direction of the Periculum encampment. The infiltrating group, Taryn, Diana, Ivan the Sneasel, and the Sandshrew girl, were running back to them.

"Don't tell me… They got spotted instantly?"

"No… That isn't it!"

Samantha drew out a white gem from her bag, glowing a faint cobalt color.

"Shield us from wrath- Protect!"

The gem exploded into a shield that formed around the Resistance Pokémon, including the four who just returned. In the next moment, a barrage of dark purple waves slammed into the barrier, causing it to crack.

"They… They were waiting for us." The Sandshrew stated.

"W-Wha…"

A Weepinbell gijinka appeared, looking rather agitated. A purple glint was in its eyes, and accompanying it were a Swadloon and three Mightyena.

"Well, we've got the tactics and numbers at least." Diana remarked as she took a fighting stance.

"Let's show these guys what we're made of."

The Swadloon from the opposing side charged for the Resistance, exuding a dreadful aura. Oscar blocked the shadow move with his spear, giving the Staravia and Nathan the opportunity to begin attacking.

The Nidorino moved to bring his club down against the Weepinbell. In retaliation, the Grass- and Poison-type let loose a barrage of Shadow Waves, forcing the mace-wielding Nidorino back.

"Damn… Those things really do hit hard!"

"Told you so. Let me handle that one." Samantha lit her wand ablaze and prepared to shoot a Flamethrower. However, a Mightyena exuding an aura of darkness thought otherwise.

"Oh no, you don't!"

The Panpour gijinka, assisted by the Sneasel were holding back the fierce foe from attacking Samantha. In response, the firefox shot her attack towards the Weepinbell, only for it to hit another Mightyena.

"I'll be stealing your vitality now." The Roselia stated before launching a red zig-zag beam at the Mightyena being blocked by the Panpour and Sneasel. But despite this, the attacker kept strong and managed to break through, damaging the two defenders and Samantha.

"They really do ignore damage done to them…"

"GAH!"

Meanwhile, Oscar and the Luxio were pushed back by another Shadow Rush from the Swadloon. Said opponent rolled out of the way of a slashing attack from the Sandshrew's axe then land a Bug Bite against the Luxio.

"Alex!" The Roselia called before firing off a Leech Seed at the Swadloon.

"Ha!"

A Brick Break and a strike from a broadsword sent one Mightyena flying back with nasty injuries.

"I think we got this guy." Diana stated confidently.

"No." Angel responded. "It'll be long before he goes down from just that."

"Huh?"

True to the Absol's words, the Mightyena stood on his feet and roared at the duo.

"You've got to be joking me…"

"Consider yourself lucky you're powerful. The others don't seem to be faring so well."

Diana turned her attention to the others as Angel sped forward.

Even though they had the numbers and the tactics, the ferocity of the Shadow Pokémon was beginning to overpower the Resistance. With every move landing being a super-effective move, the teams' energy was draining away very quickly.

* * *

"Ah, so they're attacking from the north now?"

"With the Shadow Pokémon stationed there, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Their numbers are low anyway. They won't win."

A Duosion, Pidgeotto, and an Electrode were watching the state of affairs via a radar that displayed all of Periculum's movements.

"Maybe we should go check out the idiots trying to sneak into this place."

"Yeah, just don't throw any stray attacks at the Shadows or they'll charge at us instead."

"Naaah, we can totally just relax here. We've done enough fighting out there anyway."

"Definitely. Those Resistance bastards sure are persistent, I'll give them that."

"But that's not going to get them anywhere against these shadow test subjects. It won't be very long until we win this battle."

* * *

As the fight dragged on, the three teams split up to be able to handle the Shadow Pokémon more efficiently. The team of the Nidorino, Panpour, and Staravia confronted the Swadloon and Weepinbell; the team of the Luxio, Roselia, Sneasel, and Sandshrew focused on the Mightyena trio; and as for the main cast…

"Incoming!"

"HA!"

An Aipom narrowly missed Nathan with a Shadow Rush in his hand-like tail.

"Stay… STILL!"

Meanwhile, Samantha was running about, using trees for cover from the Rock Blast of a Shadow Boldore, while Taryn and Diana struggled to keep up with a Shadow Dustox launching poisonous needles at the team from a distance.

"I sure hope this is the last of them." Oscar rushed the Boldore with his spear, but the target moved out of the way and cast a shadowy aura not unlike the one Mirsinus used before.

"Now…!"

Angel's sword collided with the Aipom's fists. The Normal-type wavered under the force, but continued to hold the attack and prepare to give the mercenary a Focus Punch.

"Nathan, go deal with this guy! I'll help Angel!" Diana ordered, stepping back to avoid another Poison Sting from the bug in the air.

"Understood." Nathan took aim with his bow, while the Pirouette Pokémon moved in to get a Brick Break onto the Aipom.

A cloud of poison was launched from the end of Samantha's wand, aimed at the Boldore. The move hit the Rock-type, but that didn't do anything to stop him from rushing towards the Fire-type.

"If this guy would just leave me alone…!" The fire mage ducked and weaved around to avoid the numerous rocks being shot her way. The barrage only stopped when Oscar landed a Liquidation spear from behind, allowing the mage the time she needed to draw a greenish gem from her bag. "Entangle my foes: Grass Knot!"

Vines sprouted from the earth and pulled down on the Boldore fighting Oscar. Before a Shadow Rush connected with the Floatzel, the move tripped the Rock-type, dealing plenty of damage.

"Hmph!"

Angel swerved left and right to dodge a barrage of Focus Punches thrown by the Aipom. Having been struck enough, the monkey gijinka went into a fury, letting loose attacks at everything that came near it, rendering it basically impossible for Diana to get a single attack in.

At the sound of a nearby scream, the main cast knew they had to finish this battle off quickly- because screaming that close definitely meant that the other teams were on the verge of losing.

The Dustox gijinka repelled Nathan's arrows with a shadowy silk and kept its altitude up high to evade Taryn's moves with ease. From there, toxic needles rained down on the archer and rogue. Following this, the Boldore gijinka sent out a shadowy aura around the area, enveloping the six Resistance Pokémon while the Aipom began to exude a visible reddish aura alongside the shadow purple unique to Shadow Pokémon.

"That's… Reverse mode, right?" Diana asked. "Looks like this is going to get harder."

As if on cue, the Aipom went into a Shadow Rush against Diana. The Mythical girl attempted a Brick Break to counter the attack, but was instead sent back by the force of the doubly-super-effective move.

"AUGH!"

"Diana!"

"Shit, that's right, anyone with two types has a double weakness to those moves!" Oscar exclaimed.

"Not to mention that Defense-reducing attack this guy just used!" Samantha added.

"I'll back her up. Focus on your fights." Angel stated as she leapt in with her sword.

"Wha- what's he doing?" Taryn queried. Nathan looked back up to see the Dustox spreading a few odd-looking purple waves headed for them.

Angel spared the duo a glance and widened her eyes in shock.

"Don't let those hit you!" The Absol mercenary exclaimed before slashing at the Aipom with a blade emitting dark energy.

"Well, if she says so…!"

Taryn sped out of the way with Agility, while Nathan backed off and shot an arrow at the Dustox releasing the strange waves. Fortunately, the waves were fairly inaccurate so they were easy to lose.

Meanwhile, Water Pulse and Shock Wave sent the Rock-type gijinka down to the ground. Much to the attackers' dismay, the target was getting back up- but it didn't look like he could do much with the Badly Poisoned status causing him to drip a strange substance from his mouth and body.

"Okay, now to-"

Samantha stopped cold once the purple waves from the Dustox reached her.

"Samantha? Hey, what's wrong-"

"AAAH!"

The mage shot a Flamethrower at Oscar, forcing the spear-wielding Water-type back with a grunt.

"Hey! What gives!?" Oscar's gaze locked on to Samantha's. The Braixen's head was swaying erratically and her eyes were empty and unfocused.

"She's… confused?"

" _Damn it._ " Angel mused inwardly, sending an Ice Beam at the enraged Aipom. Diana followed up with Acrobatics, but the Aipom refused to give up.

"Sammie, snap out of it!" Taryn ran over to her Fire-type friend, only to be struck with a Psybeam to the gut. The Jolteon shook her head and got back on her feet with a groan to find that Samantha was randomly launching moves.

"So those waves confuse us? Just perfect." Nathan mused.

"Urgh… At least that guy doesn't have any Shadow attacking moves… Damn, that still stings." Diana stepped away for a moment, given Angel was fighting as fiercely as her opponent was. "So this is the power of Shadow Pokémon… Kuh."

"DIE, DIE, DIE!" The Aipom screamed bloody murder despite failing to land Shadow Rushes through Angel's swipes and slashes. Even though he was cut up badly and bleeding, he continued to throw more attacks at Angel until the red aura began to dissipate.

As for the Dustox, it launched another series of low-accuracy waves at the Resistance followed by another barrage of Poison Sting.

"Uh-oh."

Taryn was struck by a few of the needles, but she thankfully avoided the move- dubbed Shadow Panic from Samantha's example.

"Okay, think…" Nathan hid behind a tree while Taryn kept the poisonous moth in the air busy and Oscar distracted Samantha. "We need to take out that Dustox, but how? Unless…"

The owl archer glanced to his fire mage friend sending attacks everywhere with Oscar focusing on dodging Samantha's attacks and keeping out of range of the Dustox's attacks. He analyzed the details of the situation and then turned to see Angel skillfully keeping the Aipom at bay while Diana sat against a tree with her injury catching up to her.

" _That's it!_ " Nathan thought before heading back into the battleground. "Oscar, Taryn, group up! Angel, keep that Aipom busy!"

"Heh, looks like Nathan's back into the game." Oscar mused as he sidestepped to dodge a cloud of poison.

"I hope whatever you're planning is good!"

Angel didn't even spare a glance and sliced once more at the Aipom gijinka.

" _We'll be damned if this doesn't work, so…_ " The archer took aim…

…For the fire mage launching a Flamethrower into nothing.

"Wait, what are you thinking!?"

"Trust me on this one…" Nathan responded to the Jolteon and Floatzel as he let the arrow loose. The projectile missed Samantha, but it seemed to have drawn her attention- she shot at the arrow with a Shock Wave.

Meanwhile, the Dustox had descended slightly after being ignored. With a shout of fury, she hurled more poison needles towards the group.

"Stay!" Nathan ordered as he shot Razor Leaves from his cloak to deflect the incoming assault. Behind the trio, Samantha was closing in much like a Spinda. On her stick, a glowing energy began to form at the tip.

"This is crazy. I like it." Oscar grinned despite himself, and turned to face Nathan. "What now, hotshot?"

"Your turns. Shoot a Shadow Ball and a Water Pulse at that Dustox, and make sure to aim in two different directions."

"Urgh, alright then…"

Just as requested, a pair of orbs of ghostly energy and water flew into the air towards the Bug-type. This caused the opponent to make moves to dodge them, but was left angry once it noticed the moves weren't directly aimed at it.

Then, an arrow flew past her face. In the next instant, a Psybeam struck the Poison-type- a clean headshot to boot. The attack caused the Shadow Pokémon to fall to the ground, looking rather dizzy.

"And now, we strike!"

At those words, Taryn was happy to speed up to the opponent and start hacking away with her claws, while Oscar came in with water energy charged into his spear.

"Uuu… Huh?" Samantha groaned and shook her head. "Wha… What just happened?" The Braixen took a moment to process the situation around her: Nathan watched Taryn and Oscar beat up the Dustox gijinka while it was vulnerable, Diana was trying to patch up her wound, and Angel was winning the fight with the Aipom gijinka.

"I'll explain later- for now, could you give Diana a Potion?"

"Let me hit you!" The Aipom yelled as he launched a Focus Punch lacking power. Angel sidestepped and quickly struck down the Normal-type with her blade, sending him to the ground in a heap. "Urgh…I'll… I'll definitely kill you…!"

"Ahh! That felt GREAT, beating up somebody taunting you repeatedly!" Taryn exclaimed as she walked back to her allies. The Dustox lay on grass damaged by attacks, knocked out.

"Heh, definitely one hell of a workout."

"Quickly- we've no time to waste. Diana, can you stand?"

"I think so…" The Meloetta gijinka groaned as she stood on her feet with Samantha's aid. "We need to go check on the others."

* * *

"What!? They defeated our Shadow Pokémon defenses?"

"Ugh. Whatever, they should be weakened enough for us to finish off."

The Electrode cracked his knuckles, while the Pidgeotto stretched his wings.

"Sorry, but we can't let that slide."

"Huh?"

When the Periculum trio turned, they nearly jumped in shock. A number of gijinkas donning a certain opposing emblem stood, armed to the teeth.

* * *

"Sir, the number of Periculum forces have gone down by about a hundred."

"Whatever they're doing, it's working. We aren't taking as much damage this time around." A certain Linoone commander stood, observing the battle. "Nancy Tango 3-1, requesting status report on our stars?" The Normal-type said into a radio.

"Negative, Commander. I still can't find them." A reply came. The Linoone nodded and continued to survey the battle.

"Roger. Carry on." The Linoone replied. " _Whatever they're doing, I hope it's something at least a little less dangerous than this damn battle._ "

And down below, the Resistance and Periculum continued their tug of war.

* * *

"Holy… Shit."

The teams who went around the north observed the battle triggered at the encampment. Taking down the Shadow Pokémon was no easy feat, forcing them to rest while those yet capable of fighting stood guard over their large group.

Out of the cover of the foliage, six Resistance teams were up against a large amount of Periculum soldiers. At first glance, it looked much like the actual battle nearby, but the difference here was not in the numbers- it was that the Resistance's skill was enough to put them on par with the hundred soldiers trying to kill them.

"On the bright side, I think we've taken care of their Shadow Pokémon." Taryn stated.

"Yeah… Those guys pack a punch." The Sandshrew gijinka groaned at the touch of the bandage on her knee. The Sneasel gijinka was fast asleep with a large bandage wrapped around his torso. The others were conscious with some injuries- no doubt dealt by the shadow moves.

"No." The group turned their gaze to the Dark-type clad in white watching the brawl. "The ones we fought are just the defenses. Their fighters are still out there, and I suspect that there's more of them hidden in the encampment."

"Uggh, why?"

"What makes you think that?" The Nidorino asked with curiosity in his voice.

The Poison-type's questions were answered by a number of Shadow Waves flying from the encampment towards the brawl, eliciting screams of pain from both Periculum and Resistance.

"…"

"I think I'm going to start hating it when she's right."

"Heh."

"I'm going in." Angel stated as she put her right hand to the grip of her blade in its scabbard.

"You have one crazy mercenary working for you." The Staravia commented.

"She DID take on a Shadow Pokémon mostly by herself…"

"She really is as strong as the rumors say."

* * *

Diana, being strong enough to continue fighting once more, joined the rest of her new team in aiding the Resistance there against the Shadow Pokémon. This time, she was extra careful not to allow herself to be hit- lest she pay the price.

One after the other, the forces of Periculum went down. With Angel's lead, the Shadow Pokémon were distracted away from the main force from the southern end of the field.

So far, in the span of an hour, the team managed to fight off a Tangela, Lampent, Vanillish, Mothim, Stunky, Palpitoad, Makuhita, and Petilil- all of course, Shadow Pokémon.

"Take this!"

A Flamethrower shot by Samantha took down the last of them- a Charjabug gijinka. Angel flicked her sword to get off most of the blood coating it from all the fighting. Her allies were mostly fine since intuition adjusted to the fact that all but one of their opponents in that battle were ranged attackers.

"Something wasn't right here." Nathan remarked.

"Yeah… They seemed a lot weaker." Taryn mused.

Angel sheathed her sword and turned to glance at the rest of the Resistance- it seemed they too have finished their work, but some of them had a few scrapes and bruises.

"Dang, you guys are strong." A Rapidash remarked as he approached them, sheathing his broadsword.

"Thanks- but it might have been because these guys were weakened." Oscar responded.

"We'd better hurry and burn their supplies. It won't be long before more of them show up." An Aggron suggested.

"Gotcha."

* * *

Later that day, the Resistance teams were all back at their side's encampment, getting much needed rest, along with a large amount of soldiers from the battle.

Burning the supplies revealed that the Shadow Pokémon that were in the encampment earlier were not even in proper condition to do any proper fighting- they were being used as snipers and batteries to add more power to weapons like mortars and cannons.

"I see… Impressive work today, all of you. This wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for you." The commander Linoone stated.

Besides the teams, more than half of the battalion left the field and held the fort at the encampment to give themselves rest as well. This was possible since without supplies and shadow support, the forces of Periculum retreated, leaving almost nothing but ruins of their encampment behind.

"Ahh, I'm beat…"

"You said it."

"I just wanna flop onto a hotel bed…"

"Camp's gonna have to cut it for now."

"Hey, where'd my booze go?"

"Right here, mate."

"Oof." Taryn seated down onto a bed within a tent. "After all that, I need some quality sleep."

"Given that we fought through a horde of Shadow Pokémon? Definitely."

"You weren't kidding…" Diana mused, earning the attention of her teammates. "Those Shadow Pokémon are something else. It was like… Nothing I've ever seen before."

"Yep. They're just as bad as they come. They're going to fight until the bitter end to make sure their enemies are dead."

"It isn't just that." The Meloetta followed. "I don't think they're as bad as they are."

"Huh?"

"What do you mean?" A moment of thought passed as Diana looked amongst her teammates.

"Those Pokémon… It was like they were suffering. Suffering just being awake." Diana begun. "I could see it in their eyes. Past that purple glint and all the hate… It was faint, but I could feel it."

"No way… Wait, how'd you know that?" Oscar queried.

"I dunno…"

"It might have to do with her species." Nathan responded. "Mythical and Legendary Pokémon might be able to see or sense things most other Pokémon can't."

"Hunh… If I didn't already hate Periculum, I'd sure as hell hate them now." Taryn stated.

"Mm. They need to be brought down."

"Can't let torture and conquest slide, after all."

"Speaking of which… Did we manage to capture any of the Shadow Pokémon we defeated?" The Normal-type questioned.

"I think we did… We just left them there at the encampment- I'm sure the others at least got one of them."

Diana deadpanned at Samantha's response.

"I think I figured out why the Resistance is having trouble acquiring at least one…" The Mythical gijinka let out an exasperated sigh, earning confused looks from the owl archer, the fire mage, the lightning hacker, and the water lancer. The orange-eyed "That aside, that was good thinking, Nathan. Using the confusion status against it like that."

"Yeah. I couldn't think of that if I tried." Taryn adds.

"Heh, Nathan isn't our team tactician for nothing." Oscar remarked.

"I'm still a bit upset that you used me when I was confused." Samantha mumbled with pouted lips.

"If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have won." Nathan responded. "So, thanks."

"For getting hit by that Shadow attack." Taryn snidely added.

"Screw you too, Taryn."

The team shared a laugh, continuing into the night with chatter about the day and about the war. In the end, they never experienced being out on the battlefield, but that would be for another day.

Angel couldn't stop thinking about the day. She kept totally silent, which went noticed by her team, but they decided not to query any further. Not now, anyway. Quiet as she was, Angel would occasionally speak as well.

But now, her thoughts were focused on one thing.

" _Shadow Pokémon…_ " The mercenary reminisced the time she spent fighting against the near soulless creatures. " _This is their power… No, it couldn't be. Periculum's too smart._ " Angel narrowed her eyes. " _They wouldn't use high-tier Shadow Pokémon in a meager battle like this. This position is important as a supply point, but it definitely isn't enough to convince them to bring in the stronger ones like Mirsinus, Cythereia, and that Electivire…_ "

The girl clad in white stood up and left the tent, not bothering to reply to the five asking her where she was off to.

" _That leads to the next problem: Why conduct a large number of battles, knowing it would tax them as much as their enemy?_ " The Absol strolled through the encampment, reaching the spot she stood earlier to observe the battle. " _…Just what are they thinking?_ "

* * *

Meanwhile, further South of Driasia…

"…It seems they've plenty of motives."

An intimidating gaze observed the many battles about Driasia through a series of monitors. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all stone- a natural hideout formed in the mountain towering on a small island. Through the opening of the room, large enough for a full-sized Onix, the sky outside was dark and cloudy, crackling with lightning.

A lone figure standing at 5'5 turned its gaze out to the raging skies. It walked to the mouth of the cavern and then glared down to the island.

Within seconds, bolts of lightning rained down on the area around there.

"That should halt their advance for now… But to be safe." The figure threw one arm up, causing more thunderbolts to drop down. This time, they began dropping at a regular rate, forming an instant thunderstorm.

Turning back to the screens, the figured punched in a few commands on a keyboard. The monitors began displaying footage of a number of Periculum Pokémon- scientists, troops, and the like being attacked by the thunderstorm raging outside.

"Fools. Nothing lies underneath this mountain. It's what's _inside_ you should be afraid of."

One of the monitors displayed a vibrating phone. A cursor controlled by the figure clicked on it, opening a window depicting a certain important figure in the war.

"Greetings, Raguel. How are things going for you lately?" Tobias queried. "Oh, and could you turn on a light or something? I can't quite see you."

With an exasperated sigh, the figure pointed her finger upwards and shot a small jolt of electricity at a light bulb hanging on the ceiling. The bulb began emitting light, revealing a rather cozy looking space. What was more interesting however, was the girl who stood there.

She donned a short, yellow regal-themed dress that ended in a spiky thunderbolt pattern, not unlike Taryn's jacket. Yellow and black colored the bolts of lightning, while a pair of pointed wings protruded from the girl's back- one layer yellow, and one layer black. Knee-high orange boots adorned with electric designs finished the girl's outfit. As for her hair, it was shoulder-length colored in a perfect gold streaked with black.

The quality of her appearance was rather rich and formal for any ordinary Pokémon.

"Only because we haven't seen each other in a while." The girl mused. "I'm as aware as you are of the situation- these cameras you gave me are quite useful. I've whipped up a storm around here since some Periculum dolts think there might be a Lost Cavern within this big hunk of rock, and I _hate_ intruders."

The Flygon gijinka chuckled. Despite her unparalleled looks, her attitude did not at all match what she was supposed to be.

"So, what makes you call? I understand the gravity of the current situation, but I don't think it requires my attention as of yet."

"It isn't that. I'm sure you've noticed by now, haven't you?"

The girl paused and put a hand covered in an ethereal cloth to her mouth.

"…Yeah. I have."

"I'll need a few thunderstorms around the coordinates I'm sending to you through the Linker. Think you can pull that off?"

The girl switched the cursor to a different monitor and opened a program labeled LINKER _._ Doing so revealed three spots in Driasia's Center: one a ways northwest of Virtue City, on nearby the Eastern border, and one by the southwest corner.

"And why is that?"

"I figured we'd play around with the big bad boogeyman for a bit. If you'll agree, then I have everything ready for the plan…"

"And how exactly do you plan on having me travel around that area without getting noticed?"

Tobias' lips formed a confident grin.

"Ever tried blending in the crowd?"

* * *

"...Let the games begin." A young girl pretty as a doll pocketed a pink gem into her black, gothic dress. A cheshire grin formed on her face as she walked away from a large outpost depicting Periculum's emblem.


	22. C22 - A Little History

Shadows in War, Segment Two, Chapter Twenty Two – A Little History

* * *

 _Hey, everyone. Been a bit of a while, huh? I re-read Chapter 21 the other day and literally had to go use the bathroom after I saw my_ _ **grave**_ _mistake. For those of you who already read that, the mistake is our little secret, okay? Hehehe._

 _I think I did better at the slice-of-lifey scenes this story has in the last parts of this chapter. I dunno, what do you think?_

 _Also, for those of you who remember the bucklers and stilleto that Taryn, Nathan, and Oscar have, I haven't completely forgotten about those. Completely, anyway. Those will be coming in handy way later, but for the most part, I added those to give this more of an RPG sort of feel to it. But, like I said earlier, it won't just appear in one chapter and never appear again._

 _So, I need another reason for being late. Actually, I haven't been able to log in to Fanfic on my laptop, so I couldn't even get to editing this here. Then I had this proofread by a few friends, and I made them rage in Gun Games on Blops3 splitscreen. Setting people back without a knife is freaking hilarious. Then again, so is getting disconnected from the internet and being returned to Lestallum when Lv99 Bahamut is at 20% health._

 _With that out of the way, sit back, grab a cup of tea or coffee or whatever it is you drink, and enjoy the chapter._

* * *

A groan escaped the lips of a girl dressed in yellow as she slowly sat up from a futon. The busy sound of Pokémon bustling around her began to register itself in the girl's waking brain, prompting her to yawn and stretch her arms before standing up, then taking a stick on the ground and placing it into her fluffy tail.

Groggily, Samantha Autumn took a few steps out of the tent. She had to shield her eyes from the sun for a moment to allow them to adjust. Once they did, the first thing the Fire mage noticed was another girl dressed in yellow, albeit with a lightning motif about her outfit.

"Morning, sleepyhead." Taryn greeted, giving the fox girl a glass of water.

"Yeah, good morning." Samantha took the glass and downed the contents, allowing herself to freshen up despite all the hustle and bustle around her. "So, what's going on?"

"We're setting up a fortress here to hold the position." Taryn began as the two girls began walking towards a large open space where plenty of tables and chairs were setup and Pokémon were eating. "Half of this place is going to head back to a nearby base to resupply and report to a leader or two, while the rest who can still stay are going to stay and keep an eye out on things here."

Whilst chatting, the two made their way to a counter where a number of Pokémon were serving various meals and others were lining up for. They took their food and began looking for their team amongst the crowd.

* * *

A few hours later, a team who went along with the Resistance moving back to base returned- and with a few messages. One was of course, congratulations, and then tactical tips now that they had control over the area, two, was that all teams in the area are on standby- therefore, free to do as they please for the time being, and three, was that the Master of the Resistance was sending one particular gijinka to assist the troops stationed there.

"Looks like our work paid off." Oscar remarked.

Our favorite group of heroes all discussed a plan of action- being a standby team in the Resistance now meant that you could take on any mission you liked, no matter what it was- unless of course, higher-leveled Elite Teams were working on it themselves.

"OK, bounty board, what do you have for us today?"

And of course, since that was the system for standby in the Resistance, it meant that many teams who were willing to go on more missions were out hunting for work among bounty boards, the Resistance's web, and through word of mouth.

"If we get that… But that's too far." A Vileplume mused.

"Hey, what about this one?" A Girafarig asked as she pointed out a poster to her teammates.

"Can you buff us up in the que?" A Skarmory gijinka asked of a Breloom.

"Uuugh… What should WE do?"

Taryn and Samantha both sighed in exasperation, while Diana and Nathan scanned the board. Oscar was off looking around on a laptop borrowed from another Resistance friend, while Angel accompanied the group before the boards.

"Given our team stats, we should be able to take on just about anything without as much difficulty." Nathan remarked.

"Well, you do have a great balance, plus, Angel and I are super strong." Diana remarked.

"I wish I could be as great…" Samantha mused quietly, eyeing the Meloetta's figure through her dress.

"U-Um, Samantha…?"

" _Go to the Southwest._ "

Angel's senses shot awake, causing her to take a good look around the area.

" _Strange. No Psychic-types should be able to communicate with me telepathically right now._ " The mercenary thought to herself. " _Yet…_ " Piercing red eyes turned pensive looked to the board.

"Angel? See anything?" The owl archer queried. After a momentary pause after the girls calmed down to look at their broadsword-wielding friend, the girl in question spoke up.

" _The ruins in the Southwest… There lies a piece to your puzzle, S…_ "

"…I think I do."

"Hey, guys, I just got an idea. Let's go to the Southwest, since that's the nearest Ruins to us." Angel shot a glare at the Floatzel, causing him to take a couple of steps back. At this, Taryn, Samantha, Diana, and Nathan all turned their eyes to the poster angel was just now looking at.

"…You're slow, Oscar." Taryn chuckled.

"H-Huh? Hang on, what did I do!?"

* * *

Several hours passed.

The six got the supplies they needed and set out westwards to the region of snow. Their current objective was to assist the Resistance working on finding out what Periculum wants with a certain set of Ruins close to the northern border of the Southwest region. One of the stops was Blizzard City. According to rumors, it had turned from a busy city nearest to the snowfields to a warzone, defended by the Resistance's Lady Claire and her army.

And of course, since it was close enough, no transport was provided.

"Feels like we should get those dune buggies back." Oscar mused as the team walked under the sun. Thankfully, it was windy to a degree so that kept them cool enough.

"But there isn't a lot of sand around here." Diana replied with her hands behind her head as they walked.

"The buggy, I'm cool with. The sand, absolutely not." Taryn shivered at the thought of a desert.

"So you're one of those Electric-types who hate sand?" Diana queried.

"We've both got it bad." Samantha responded in place of her Jolteon companion. "Taryn and I both hate muddy and sandy areas, but we're OK with just about everything else."

"Yeesh… Most Pokémon only usually have one or no uneasy feeling in certain terrain." The Meloetta said. "Hey, hang on, we're going to the snowy region. Will Nathan be OK?"

The group turned to their archer companion.

"Fire is what makes me uncomfortable. I can do as fine in the cold as most Normal-types do." Nathan stated. "At least, until I'm struck with an Ice-type move."

"Hey, that also means Angel will be in her element." Oscar said.

"Yeah, since she's an Absol and she even has Ice Beam to boot." Taryn added.

"Absol are mountain Pokémon, aren't they?" Samantha quizzed.

"It's more of that than the former." Angel quietly replied.

"Well… That answers that."

* * *

"Take this!"

A kick from Diana sent a Ninjask coming at her right into the Shock Wave of Samantha. Angel swung her blade to block a Pawniard's Slash, before parrying the move and shooting a Shadow Ball at the Steel-type.

Liquidation followed by a series of sharp punches from Taryn downed a Donphan gijinka quickly, courtesy of the defense debuff from Oscar's strike.

"Samantha, look out!"

A Purrloin was closing in with Fury Swipes ready on a pair of daggers. The archer of the team reacted fast enough and shot an arrow, disrupting the Dark-type's aim and allowing the Fox to get a Flamethrower in.

"Nathan, you might wanna duck!"

The archer dropped down and rolled out of the way of a Fire Lashing Heatmor. He shot an arrow at it from the ground right before Water Pulse connected, forcing the attacker back with a scream of pain.

The Ninjask gijinka fell to the ground in a heap, or rather, frozen in a block of ice. Angel slashed to her left to strike down a Hitmonlee attempting a High Jump Kick, making the enemy faint on the spot.

"Pathetic." Angel mused before dodging a Bullet Seed barrage and flying into a Double Team.

"I got your back!"

Taryn absorbed the Lightning Gem thrown towards Oscar, healing her of the few cuts she received from the fight.

"You think you're a hotshot since you're armed, huh?" Diana asked as she took her opponent's katana and sent a roundhouse kick to the Pawniard followed by a Brick Break. "Think again!"

Ice Beam instantly downed a Jumpluff gijinka, sending it flying with a scream of pure agony. The Disaster Pokémon whipped around and sped forward.

"Guwah!"

The Heatmor was sent to the ground by a critical Night Slash from Angel's broadsword. Before the Fire-type could get up, he found the tip of the blade pointed to his neck.

"Feel free to move." Angel coldly said to the downed opponent. Around her, her teammates were cleaning up the mess brought about by the other thieves attacking them.

Nathan's Spirit Shackle held down the Jumpluff, Purrloin, Donphan, and Pawniard to their spots, while Diana sat on top of the ice cube containing the Ninjask.

"T-These guys… Are strong…"

"So, since we won, we'll be taking all your stuff." Diana said, to the Ninjask who could barely even reply trapped in ice.

"Okaaaay, that might be a bit too far."

"This isn't the Slums, Diana!"

The Meloetta giggled. "Of course I was kidding. We were just defending ourselves, after all."

"Or we could use the fact that this is like a video game as an excuse."

"Taryn… Please, do not tempt me." Samantha responded. The Electric-type stuck her tongue out at the Fire-type.

"In any case, these spoils of war may just come useful later on." The Decidueye gijinka mused, eyeing the bags the Heatmor and Donphan dropped.

"Just what are you…!?" The Pawniard spat.

"Just a simple Resistance team."

* * *

In the end, the team did take a few things from the battered thieves. A few elemental gems, some stolen items they'd hand over to the Resistance (since yes, seriously, they also do lost and found too), and oddly enough, a rather powerful explosive- thermite.

"I have no idea when or where we're gonna use that, but alright."

"My intuition tells me we'll be finding it to be very useful." Nathan remarked.

"Hey, can we take a break?" Taryn asked. "We've been walking all day…"

"She's got a point." Oscar remarked.

"Fine, then. Over there should be OK." Angel pointed to an outcropping nearby some trees and a pond.

Once the team approached it and made sure there were no other Pokémon around, they set down their belongings. Samantha and Diana set up a soon-to-be fireplace, while Oscar and Nathan worked on the tents. The remainder of the group- Angel and Taryn, kept guard over their supplies.

Given they had food from the encampment, the need to hunt or fish was nullified. The sun was already setting, so with the remainder of their time, Samantha got to work on preparing and cooking their meal for the night.

Diana helped the Braixen mage with her cooking. Having lived alone, according to the Mythical Pokémon, had the benefit of getting her to learn to do these things by herself.

"Maybe you could learn something from this, Taryn." Samantha joked. The Jolteon hacker stuck her tongue out at the Fire-type.

"I can cook just fine!" The Electric-type girl retorted.

"Why, is Taryn a bad chef?" The Meloetta questioned. Samantha shook her head in reply with a smile, reminiscing.

"That's an understatement. Every time Taryn tries to cook anything, it either burns up, or there's a wall painted with sauce." The Fox Pokémon responded.

"H-Hey, we don't need to remember things like that…" Taryn said in a small voice.

"Putting aside how hard it was to clean up, it was really funny." Oscar remarked, much to the Jolteon's dismay.

"Yeah? How?" Diana asked, giggling all the while.

"Nathan? Take it away."

"To make it easy, imagine you filled a bomb with spaghetti sauce. Now, imagine said sauce coating half of an entire kitchen." At that, the Meloetta laughed, followed by the others, all while Taryn could only drown in her embarrassment.

"HALF the whole kitchen?"

"It literally looked like a bomb filled with sauce detonated there."

"Pfff…"

"Q-Quit it…"

"We've got company." Angel stated after a moment, earning everyone's attention. The team stood up, and Nathan's eyes began to glow a bright blue.

"Foresight…" Nathan chanted as he focused his vision forwards, allowing him to see much further and with the same level of detail he could if he were close. "It's... Ajax. He's accompanied by a couple of Resistance teams."

"Ajax? Who's that?" Diana queried.

"He's one of the higher up scientists around the Resistance." Samantha began. "He also handles the technology around alongside Matt, who's our best tech wizard and hacker."

"Last time we saw him was when Angel went through the fighting simulator." Oscar remarked.

"You guys have a combat simulator?" The Meloetta asked with an amazed voice.

"Yup. With a little stuff from Ajax, some of his friends' old jobs and some tech we stole from Periculum a few years back, we've got some cool stuff of our own." Taryn explained.

Within minutes, the group accompanying the Infernape arrived at the encampment. Upon meeting, they decided to rest alongside Angel's team.

"It's a pleasure to see that you're all holding up well. And to have recruited a Mythical Pokémon to your ranks? And I thought that the overpowered mercenary was enough." Ajax mused. Sitting with him were a Sealeo, Eelektross, Duskull, Dwebble, Hitmontop, and Gligar gijinkas, all sharing in the meal Samantha prepared, plus a few of their own rations so as not to take too many from the ones who reached the spot first.

"So, what brings you around these parts?" Nathan queried.

"My mission." The Infernape responded.

"Your mission?" Ajax nodded in reply.

"My current objectives are to head to the mountain in the South. Tobias and Audrey both suspect that there may be ruins there, and they'd like for me to check it out." Ajax explained. "Although, I myself doubt that there would be any ruins containing a Lost Cave, I'm sure our expedition will prove fruitful."

"Yeah. Not a lot of people go there, and it's usually banned for tourists." Oscar remarked.

"Exactly. There are a few old legends I've dug up about that old rock. What we do know for sure is that it's older than civilization on this country. One of the legends say that the mountain held a great treasure, but extreme weather and currents kept any Pokémon from reaching there. Others claim that it served as the burial place for a hero whose offspring would eventually rise as a hero to the continent in dire times, while still more state that a group of warriors lay their weapons to rest there before sealing them off. All sorts of fantasy-themed myths, but most of them do say that it was never easy to reach the island it sits on."

"Then, are there any Pokémon living there?" Samantha asked.

"That, I'm not quite sure of." Ajax said. "If there are, it wouldn't make sense that they'd hide themselves there rather than explore the mainland."

"True." Angel mused. When she gained everyone's attention, she sighed internally, deciding to continue. "If a civilization exists on that island, they would definitely come to explore the rest of Driasia. I don't need to say any reasons."

"Makes sense." The Dwebble gijinka commented.

"But if the weather there is harsh…" Diana muses.

"No." Ajax stated, cutting off the Meloetta. "Either the weather really was terrible in those days, or they were exaggerating. But even though whirlpools, storms, and thunderstorms occur there more than anywhere else in Driasia, it isn't so bad to the point that it cuts off travel for long periods of time."

"That explains how you're getting there." Taryn said.

"Another legend that I believe might be more plausible…" Ajax trailed off, gaining everyone's attention. "Is that it is home to a powerful line of Pokémon. Perhaps, even a Legendary Pokémon."

"A Legendary Pokémon?"

"It's merely a theory. While there are little to no records of any such figures being said to live there, it would make some sense." The Flame Pokémon stated. "If a Pokémon that powerful lived there, it would want to seclude itself, lest its power be misused by corrupted officials and rulers."

"I don't usually believe in stories like that, but it does sound pretty cool." Diana mused.

"Hm…"

"If perhaps a legendary does live there…" The Infernape turned his gaze southwards. Everyone looked at him, waiting for what he'd say next.

Although no one there was younger than 19 years of age, Ajax had a way with telling of stories and explaining things, but not exactly charismatic in other areas. It was for this reason that he would also come to comfort children brought in by the Resistance whose parents were lost to war.

"…then I imagine that it won't be long before it shows itself, in trying times like these."

* * *

 _6,000 Years Ago, Driasia_

Smoke rose into a bloodied sky coupled by the sounds of war. Tensions between the Kingdom of the East and the Kingdom of Virtue in the Center erupted into an all-out war once the Prince of one kingdom was assassinated by a supposed spy from the center.

For weeks, the battle raged. It was far worse and wanton than most of the smaller wars that would spring up from time to time within the country, and if not stopped soon, it would spread to the surrounding areas, thus engulfing the country in what could potentially be the greatest catastrophe to set foot in Driasia.

Neither side refused to concede. Neither side refused to look at the facts. Neither side refused to see what this battle was doing to their people, or what it would do to the rest of their land.

While stories for many of those who participated or spectated the war blossomed, the majority could barely focus on the tale of a select few, when so many were suffering- when so many were fighting without hope for the future.

The Kingdom of the North, occupied by a powerful army of Water-types, would take advantage of the weakened kingdoms of the East and Center, and should that have occurred, the power would have gone all to them, and they would be able to launch a campaign to conquer the entirety of the land.

To be able to put a stop to this war, to the foolishness of the rulers of these kingdoms, a group of six- two from the Center, two from the East, and two from the Northwest and Southeast set out to the fabled mountain in the South, their hopes high that they would find a way to save their land, their homes, their families, their friends.

And they succeeded.

A roar echoed throughout the battlefield, one powerful enough to resonate within the hearts of all who listened. For just a moment, the fighting stopped, as everyone was taken with the source of the noise.

A man clad in yellow armor streaked black hovered in the field. In his hand was a lightning bolt fashioned into a spear. Electricity crackled in the air on and around his body. A pair of yellow and black spiky wings kept him afloat as his pressuring eyes scanned the area around him.

" _You, soldiers who fight for foolish kings and foolish queens._ " Telepathy echoed around the area. A closer look showed that the figure held a pinkish gem in his free hand. " _Have you no sight, that you cannot see what you are doing? Have you no ears, that you cannot hear the cries of your fellow people? Have you no_ honor, _that you will tear through your own land for the sake of greed and hate?_ "

"You… You dare to insult the brave warriors who fight for what is right!?" An Emboar exclaimed, seeming to be one of the commanders of the Eastern side. At those words, the warriors of the East let out a resounding cheer, and drew their arms once more.

"We will not stand idly by and let this man insult us! Charge!" A Bisharp roared. The forces from the Center too, brandished their weapons once more and prepared their shields and bows.

" _Blind men being led by blind rulers…_ " The gijinka mused, going heard due to the gem. " _It is such a pity._ "

The fighting continued, and some began launching arrows at the electric-coated figure. However, the projectiles bounced off his armor like they were nothing.

"Impossible, what Electric-type has that much defense!?"

With a roar, the Zapdos gijinka raised his spear skywards. Within the next few moments, all projectiles and moves flying at him were obliterated by powerful bolts of lightning. The collateral damage from the Thunder attacks was heavy enough to force back the sides of both.

Yet, the armies continued to fight undaunted by the appearance of the new Pokémon.

" _Forgive me, for it seems we won't be able to settle this as peacefully as we wished._ " The Zapdos mused, turning his gaze to a hill overlooking the war towards the south.

" _It is fine. We will have to resort to our second plan of action, then._ "

" _Kaminari Bushido, please… Help us._ "

The Zapdos nodded at the girl's thoughts and dove into the battle, clearing a path towards the hill with his spear and his thunderstorms.

" _This war has gone on long enough._ " Bushido thought as he struck down group after group of Pokémon with each attack. " _Those of you who yet have honor, those of you who are willing to fight for what is right…_ "

A screech emitted from the Zapdos' mouth as he let loose a flare of electricity from his body. Within moments, he had transformed into a large bird with spiked feathers where the armor was. A long, orange beak extended from his face, adorned with a pair of black circles on his eyes and a crown of spiky feathers, extending to either side.

" _Abandon your foolish kings and your foolish queens! If you wish for peace, then I shan't strike you down- for that is for the vengeful!_ "

"What… Is he…?"

The Zapdos turned to the Emboar commander, now looking with one emotion: Fear.

" _Your judgment._ "

Powerful wings allowed him to soar into the sky, and from the clouds, lightning struck those who dared to defy the six fighting their way from the hill, and those who raised their arms against their comrades who turned from the Zapdos' words.

" _Bushido, there are birds coming your way!_ "

The Legendary Pokémon turned his gaze to the Flying-types soaring upwards, surrounding him. Most of them looked fearful, knowing their opponent was one who freely controlled their main weakness.

" _This is your last chance._ "

"F-For the King! We must not falter! CHARGE!"

A regretful look was seen in the Electric- and Flying-type's eyes before he closed them, letting more electricity flow around his body, forming a shield.

"Discharge."

* * *

"We'll be off now."

"Thanks for letting us crash."

"T'was out pleasure."

With those parting words, Ajax and his teams left the camp. The group staying there watched them go before they all prepared themselves for the day and began packing their equipment.

"What do you guys think of that old mountain?" Taryn asked while putting on her buckler.

"I think it's just a mountain. There are other places that have weird weather or creepy stuff like that too." Diana responded.

"It does make for good writing, though." Nathan mused.

"You sound like you're talking from experience." Oscar commented as he slung his spear to his back.

"I had a few friends in Virtue City who were writing." The Decidueye responded.

"Well then!" Samantha clasped her hands together, satisfied that everything was ready. "Shall we get going?" A nod from their mercenary prompted them to begin walking westwards.

* * *

"Gee, you sure have gotten strong."

"Well, I had a couple of good practice partners, remember?"

Flames burst from Samantha's wand, aimed for the speeding Taryn up ahead. With Agility, the Jolteon easily evaded the move. The Braixen mage whirled around and fired a few Toxic clouds from her wand.

"That won't work on me!"

"That's exactly why I did it."

"Huh?"

Taryn managed to dodge the Toxic, but ended up being hit directly in the face with a Psybeam. The Lightning Pokémon staggered back, before giggling to herself and shooting off a Stored Power randomly.

"Whoa. I wasn't expecting that."

"I see…" Angel mused. Nathan gave her a quick glance before turning his eyes back to the fox having an easy time dodging her confused opponent's attacks. "Their familiarity with each other allowed Samantha to predict what Taryn would have done in that situation."

"So, that means…"

"Taryn's been playing into her hands the whole time." Nathan finished.

"Look, there's a piñata over there!" Taryn shot a Shadow Ball at the air where the supposed object was, but missed.

"I think this means that I win." Samantha mused before igniting her stick with friction from her tail. The girl rushed forward to meet the Confused Jolteon, before landing a few strikes with the wand.

"Wheee… Ow!" The Braixen stopped her attacks at the sound, and stood with a smirk on her face. Taryn shook her head. "Wait, did I lose…?"

"Mm-hmm! That means I win our bet."

"Oh, come on!"

Samantha giggled before giving her friend a Shock Wave for the trouble, eliciting a relieved sigh from the Electric-type.

"I guess I got too overconfident, huh?"

"You did. Now, I'll have my 1,000." With a long sigh, the duo walked back to their team and Taryn took out a bag of coins and gave it to a rather pleased looking Samantha.

"They actually bet money on this, huh…?" Diana, Oscar, and Nathan all mused as they watched the display.

"If that's all, then let's be going." Angel stated.

* * *

"Samantha, I've a question."

"What is it, Nathan?"

"I've been thinking about it since your duel with Taryn this morning…" The owl archer trailed off. The others also seemed to realize what the Grass-type was thinking.

"…why don't you fight like that more often?" Diana queried.

"Huh?" The Braixen mage tilted her head.

"Using your stick like that after lighting it on fire. I'm pretty sure that'd help you out in closer ranges too." Oscar added. At that, the Fox Pokémon gijinka smiled.

"Because you guys are always there to keep me safe." She replied. "And besides, my Attack stats are pretty weak, and a stick like this isn't any bit useful for blocking attacks like your spear or Angel's sword."

"It still hurts a lot, though." Taryn commented.

"Oh, that. Well, I add a little bit of psychic energy to make it hurt a bit more and amplify the Fire-type damage it does. But the main use I have for it is…"

"Is…?" Samantha hummed happily, walking ahead of the group.

"Hey, out with it!" The Braixen giggled.

"To beat info out of Periculum dolts."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I'm glad I'm with the Resistance."

"Me too."

Diana smiled wryly at that.

"So what happens if you lose the stick?" Angel asked. Like this, the team continued on a fairly peaceful road to the Southwest. Though she was focused entirely on fulfilling her contract at first, Angel was definitely warming up to the team a little more. She was still as cold and quiet as ever, but not as cold as her Ice Beams.

"Hmm…" Samantha looked skywards as she stepped forward. "For one, it becomes harder for me to use moves since I'll have to use my hands and- wait, why am I telling you this?" Samantha deadpanned, before sharing a laugh with her friends. Angel's eyes were closed and she held a monotone expression. "There's more to it, but I think I'll let you guys figure that out."

"Aww, no fair! Come ooon, tell usss!" Taryn ran up to the Fire-type and hugged her from behind.

"Ah- hey!"

"We really are curious though." Oscar said. "What does happen to Braixen without sticks? Since you made it pretty clear that you can't just poof one up."

"Erm… T-Think about it like Decidueye hoodies, or your Floatzel jackets!" Samantha responded. "No matter what, Decidueye always have some hoodie or cloak they use as a bow, and Floatzel jackets work like pool floaties for others to grab on in the water."

"Huh… She has a point." Nathan mused, putting a hand to his mouth and taking a pensive expression.

"Really? I've never had to do the whole 'Floatzel Lifeguard' thing before, so I wouldn't know." Oscar stated.

"Hang on, so what does that make us?" Diana asked with a bored voice as taryn moved to walk next to the Meloetta.

"Umm…"

"Hmm…"

"Hehe…"

"The unfortunate species lacking in a constant perk." Angel remarked, as she walked at an angle that brought out her horn and tail.

"…Sometimes, I hate this Absol."

"Same. Can we beat her?"

"I can hold my own, and we both have the same speed tactics."

"Don't even try it." Angel replied before walking forward.

* * *

Following a sigh, an old, well-kept book closed its pages for the day by the will of a young girl holding it. She wore a thick, light brown dress adorned with feathers, with a patch of tan fur at the back where a pair of wings protruded. Her shoulder-length hair was colored in red, and her eyes were a brilliant black.

"What role will I play in this civil war, I wonder?" The girl mused to herself. "A great hero like my ancestor was? Meh, given the situation…" The girl smiled. "I think I'll enjoy myself for a bit. I could stretch my wings after all that time, after all." The girl stretched her arms and took in a deep breath that smelled of the sea.

She stood on a boat, headed for the southern end of Driasian mainland. She had her mission and objectives, but given the talk she had the other night, there was no rush whatsoever. She had the time to enjoy life like a normal civilian would.

Well, as much as one could in the midst of a civil war that could tear apart your hometown in seconds.

The girl sighed and turned her gaze to the sky, then to the southern mountain.

"To believe that a war of the feared size would break out in this day and age…" The girl shook her head and looked forward to the mainland with a smile.

"This will be interesting, pairing me up with a Resistance Team." The Fearow gijinka turned at the sound of footsteps.

"Hey, sweetheart, you wanna spend some time under decks?"

"Sorry, but I'll pass up on that." The girl replied to the Cloyster gijinka. "I've got business I need to handle, and I don't like cramped spaces." A glint came to her eye as she opened her mouth to speak further. "Especially because they make small things look big."

"Wha- Why you..."

"At-tut-tut. No violence on the boats." The Fearow girl giggled and walked away, spreading her wings and flying up to a higher position on the boat.

The Flying-type took in a deep breath of the open sea air. She looked towards the Southwest portion of Driasia, the region of snow, where she was headed.

"I wonder what it is he's got planned."


	23. C23 - And Into The Fire

Shadows in War, Segment Two, Chapter Twenty Three – ...And Into The Fire

* * *

 _Late as hell, isn't it?_

 _Writer's block and lack of good music for writing this one is to blame. Well, partially._

 _Not having updated so long despite it being the summer made me pissed. So I decided to go ham on this one and write a long chapter, essentially taking what would have been Chapter 24 into this. For anyone who remember the teasers, I even edited them a little bit._

 _Anywho, as promised (and teased for those who saw it), there will be a heck of a fight later, and this chapter will reveal something disturbing regarding a rather early chapter._

* * *

"I should've asked for a game console back at HQ." Taryn muttered under her breath. The group was nearing the border that divided the South and the Southwest regions of Driasia.

"They… Seriously do that at the Resistance?" Diana questioned, looking around the other members of the group.

"Yeah. Before our visit to Virtue City, I was playing on my PC a lot." Samantha replied.

"All the updates I'm missing… Ugh." Oscar sighed.

"I see…" The Meloetta wore a wry smile.

"Maybe there's a net café there." Nathan said, earning everyone's attention.

Up ahead were a cluster of buildings forming a small village. At the sight, Taryn, Samantha, and Oscar all lit up.

"Finally, some normal civilization." Samantha mused.

"What, can't handle the glitz and glam of the city?" The Jolteon asked.

"More like your sewers." The Fire-type responded.

" _Something isn't right._ " Angel thought as she ignored the chatter around her and focused her gaze on the village ahead. " _My senses are tingling…_ Wait."

"Huh?" Everyone turned to the Dark-type standing still.

"What's up, Angel?" Oscar queried.

"That town… It's dangerous." Angel replied. "Disaster awaits us."

"Disaster…? Oh, right, you're an Absol…"

"Can you tell what kind?" Angel shook her head.

"Something is very off about that place." Angel said. "Does anyone have a map of controlled territory?"

"I do." Nathan said.

Within moments, the team took cover under the shade of a few trees nearby. Nathan took out a scroll and lay it flat on the ground.

"I've been keeping this updated as we collect more information." Nathan stated. The map was three-fourths of a meter on all sides, depicted Driasia- with every single known city, town, village, and settlement, marked with colors of blue and red. "Blue represents locations that are officially with the Resistance while red denotes any Periculum-controlled areas."

"As expected, Nathan."

"Knowing is half the battle. So, Angel, what did you want to see?"

"Our position should be here." Angel pointed to the border between the south and the snowy region. "This town… It's neutral."

"Wait a sec…" Taryn paused. "You're saying?"

"Periculum's trying to invade this place?" Diana said.

"Possibly." Angel replied.

"Then we have to hurry up and fight them off." Samantha said.

"We can't make any rash decisions yet." Nathan stated, cutting off the Braixen, Jolteon, and Floatzel from moving. "We'll need to scout the place first." The owl archer's eyes turned to the mercenary-turned-teammate now leaning against the tree.

"Whenever you're ready."

* * *

Noon had passed, and Nathan and Angel returned to the group.

"So, what did you guys find?"

"It's a ghost town out there." Nathan stated.

"I could sense other Pokémon there. Whether they're friendly or not, they chose not to show their faces when I walked in." Angel added.

"What do you guys think?" Oscar asked. "There aren't any signs of fighting there too, right?" Angel nodded.

"If I had to make a guess, it would be that Periculum has control over the citizens, and they're the ones in there." The owl archer mused. "Angel, since you were the one who went in, did you get the feeling of being watched?"

"Yes." Angel replied. "No feeling or senses of dread, but… My disaster sense was tingling in there."

"This is troubling…" Taryn trailed off.

"If there aren't a lot of them, then maybe we can just fight them head on and finish it quick and clean." Diana says.

"I second that." Samantha interjected. "Besides, who knows- they might have hostages or worse, Shadow Pokémon living with them."

"That would be a great chance to catch one of them too." The Sea Weasel Pokémon mused.

"Angel, your thoughts?" Diana queried. As everyone's eyes fell to the Absol mercenary, she closed hers and took a deep breath.

" _Not a lot of them are there. But this nagging feeling definitely doesn't signal a natural disaster._ " Angel slowly opened her eyes and trailed her gaze to the map spread out on the grass. " _Inspecting what's in the structures could prove fruitful, however… No, it's much too concealed to be a trap. If Periculum were trying to lure us in, they would have made this a little more obvious. Which means…_ "

"Angel?"

"If Periculum is involved, then they're hiding something here." Angel stated.

"Huh?" Angel drew her sword, checking out the weapon- much to the others' surprise.

"We're going in."

* * *

Each member of the Resistance team (save for of course Diana) had their weapons and armor at the ready. Sword, arrow, stick, spear, and knuckles were just moments away from attacking whatever came at them. The team moved around with their backs to one another, so as not to be ambushed from any side. Nathan's eyes glowed blue and orange as he scanned the area.

"Something is definitely wrong here…" Diana trailed off.

"It's quiet…" Oscar mumbled. "Too quiet. Nathan, you picking up anything?"

"I've confirmed that there are a few Pokémon in this area. But I'm not detecting any Ghost-types."

"Where exactly are they?" Diana asked.

"There's… Two in the convenience store, four in the clothes store, three in the bakery, and about five or so in the big house so far." The owl archer replied.

"It would be nice if one of us was a Psychic-type who could read nearby minds…" Taryn mumbled.

"Not a lot of Psychic-types can actually read minds uninvited." Samantha responded. "So even if I was a Delphox, it wouldn't change anything."

"They know we're here." Angel stopped moving.

"Huh?"

"If you don't want to be caught, then move!" A orb of ghostly energy formed in her palm as Angel rolled before shooting off the Shadow Ball.

The attack connected with a small, yellow projectile lying on the ground.

"Bullets…? Then…"

"Find cover! Go!"

"Haze!"

From the Decidueye's body, black smoke emitted, covering the Resistance team's movements. More bullets flew around the smoke, tearing open short lived gaps.

"Samantha, now!"

"Got it!"

From the dissipating smoke cloud, a medium sized white gem flew straight towards the source of the bullets- the direction of the bakery.

"Time to hit 'em back!" Oscar exclaimed as he rushed out from behind a fountain alongside Diana, Taryn, and Angel towards the bakery.

"We'll keep you covered!" Nathan exclaimed as he let loose an arrow from his hoodie bow, aimed at a window in the big house.

"Go, go!"

"We've been compromised!" A voice from the bakery exclaimed.

Exactly as Foresight told- five of them were in the big house, two were in the convenience store, three of them were in the bakery, and four of them erupted from the clothes store. All of the gijinkas were clad in the same light grayish armor donned by Periculum's soldiers.

Oscar clashed with a Skorupi wielding an axe, while Taryn sped around to draw away a Crabrawler. Diana's Brick Break sent a Simisear gijinka flying backwards.

Angel disappeared into a swarm of clones, all running about the field and swinging their swords towards the other soldiers shooting bullets, and in one case, arrows. Nathan and Samantha continued launching arrows and moves at the targets marked by their Absol ally, while the other three focused on taking down the close-ranged enemies in front of them.

"Which one is the real one!?" A Meditite wielding a bow fired arrows onto the clones feinting the other Periculum soldiers below.

"Just shoot all of them!" A Helioptile wielding a SCAR rifle responded, taking potshots at the group up front. The Bergmite wielding a sub machine gun screamed in fear and backed off when a Flamethrower from Samantha struck the window he was firing from.

"What in the hell…?" A Zubat holding a handgun peeked from out of the clothes store and grit his teeth at hearing the sounds of fighting. "Alright idiots, let's get these suckers so's we can get back to the thing!" Nuzleaf, Timburr, and Ribombee gijinkas emerged from the structure to back the Zubat up.

"Nothing we aren't used to, right guys?" Oscar parried the Skorupi and followed with a Liquidation, knocking out the defender. Nathan's arrow took down a Zangoose shooting at him with a carbine rifle from the convenience store, while Samantha's Shock Wave instantly downed the Zubat.

"What the-" A Ducklett gijinka didn't even have the time to react before Angel's Night Slash took him down. The Absol dashed back into the fray, picking up the ACR he dropped to empty the clip onto the shooters in the windows.

Diana kicked the Nuzleaf in the face before charging him and disarming him of his blade. A chop to the back of his neck followed, knocking out the target. As for Taryn, she Thunderbolted a Timburr before the Fighting-type could attack, then began to swipe away at his armor, forcing him back. Samantha and Nathan hid behind a building, popping out from cover to deliver a Spirit Shackle or a Psybeam to the enemies in the big house.

"Where is that Absol…?" The Ribombee looked around, preparing a ball of light in her hands. A blow to her head from behind sent her to the ground in a heap.

Angel looked down on her fallen foe, then back to her allies who had managed to flush out the enemies in the house with a Fire Gem Samantha had. It looked like they would win this fight- as with any other, but this time wouldn't be the case.

Not when her Disaster sense was still triggered.

" _This feeling of danger… Where is it coming from?_ " Angel cast her eyes around the area- at a glance, it didn't seem like there was any way that anything termed "disaster" could happen. " _Then… What is causing it?_ "

"Reinforcements! Call for reinforcements!"

"Are you stupid!? I don't want to die either, but-"

"If they're THIS strong, they have to be an Elite team!"

"CALL REINFORCEMENTS!"

"Sorry, but we can't let you do that." Nathan shot a barrage of Spirit Shackle arrows at the enemies, trapping whoever was conscious to their spots. After a few more blows from Taryn, Diana, Oscar, and Samantha, only a Salandit and Hoppip remained awake for questioning.

"So, what are you guys doing in a quiet little town like this?" Oscar asked. The Salandit growled lowly and spat a small bit of poison at the Floatzel, blocked easily by Angel's sword.

"Answer properly, and I might consider sparing your life." Angel stated. "What did you mean by reinforcements?"

"As if we're telling you." The Hoppip retorted. A small orb of ultracold energy formed in Angel's free hand, causing the Hoppip to gulp.

"Don't waste your time with these jerks. We won't get anywhere like this." Diana stated. "Let's try a different approach."

"Uh… I don't think we have the time for that." Taryn mused. The group turned their attention to their surroundings, which had now become slightly misty and cool.

From buildings, alleyways, and rooftops, a large number of Periculum soldiers armed with all sorts of weapons stepped out. Among the ranks of the enemies were more powerful Pokémon species such as Magmortar, Jellicent, Nidoking, and Steelix.

"T-That's a lot of them…" Samantha trailed off, preparing a Flamethrower. In response, numerous Water-types prepared a variety of water-type moves at the ready.

"Ghk… Where did they all come from?"

"This is bad… We're completely surrounded." Nathan mused as he drew three arrows.

"Even with the six of us, there's no way we can take them all on…" Diana mused.

" _So that was it…_ " Angel thought. " _It was warning me of an entire army within the town… But how could all of them have hid from our senses?_ " Angel narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth before taking a deep breath.

"We fight."

"Y-You're kidding, right?" Taryn asked. "Even if we do take some of them, down, we can't get out of this situation…"

"I don't have any gems that we can use to get us out of here either." Samantha added.

"Taryn would be the only one who can escape, but…" Nathan scanned around the area with Foresight.

"An Earthquake from any of these guys will take her out if she Digs, and then there are some fast guys around here too. And who knows, some of them might have Agility." Oscar mused.

"Hahaha! It's hopeless now, scumbags!" The Salandit exclaimed.

"On my signal." Angel stated.

"Pahahaha! These Resistance chumps think they can take us on!" a Beartic exclaimed.

"Maybe, against all odds…!"

* * *

Or not.

Was what Samantha was thinking. At the very beginning of the brawl, Sleep Powder was used on the whole team, putting everyone but herself and Nathan to sleep. From there, it didn't take very long before Nathan was incapacitated and Samantha was rendered unable to battle with the use of Spite.

Now, she was held in an empty room with pale blue and gray walls alongside the rest of her team who were now awake. All of them were bound by ropes and had collars on their necks.

" _There. Those collars'll keep all your Power Points from restoring, so trying a move is useless! Not to mention it disables all your moves too!_ "

The Braixen found he was right. On the bright side, the collars wouldn't shock them or damage them, but it didn't seem like they could be removed through normal means either. Without any means of escape, they'd probably be finished.

After of course, they were questioned. In the worst case scenario, they might be turned into Shadow Pokémon. The thought mortified the fire mage, but to her dismay, there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

"Still haven't found anything?" Diana asked. Nathan, kneeling on the floor, shook his head.

"It's no use. I can't use Foresight to check for anything hidden."

"Doesn't help that we can't budge either." Oscar commented. "And our weapons and items got taken somewhere else too.

"Or that Angel hasn't moved at all…" Taryn trailed off. The group turned their eyes to the Absol just staring at the floor.

"Angel? Hello? We're in here too, you know."

"It almost looks like she's a statue…"

"She hasn't moved since she woke up." Samantha stated. "It's getting worrying…"

"You don't think they turned her into a Shadow Pokémon when we were still K.O.d, do you?" Diana asked.

"I doubt it." Samantha replied. "I was never put to sleep or knocked out, and I like to think that it would take a while for a Pokémon to become… You know…"

Angel's eyes slowly turned towards them.

"We're clear."

"YEESH! D-Don't scare me like that, Angel!" Taryn exclaimed. The Absol huffed quietly before opening her mouth.

"This isn't a strong base." Angel stated.

"Don't ignore me!" The mercenary continued speaking, much to the Jolteon's dismay and the amusement of the others.

"If it was, then our judges would have appeared a long time ago, or they would have come to check on me. Therefore, we can leave this room if we're quick enough."

"H-Huh?"

"We'd all love to be moving around again, but how?"

"Simple. They didn't take into account that some Pokémon have advantages that others don't." With those words, Angel stood up as the ropes tying her arms and legs came loose. Everyone stared in amazement at the Dark-type now looking down on all of them.

"H-How…"

"Her tail…" Diana trailed off.

Within a minute, Angel had used her horn and tail to cut off the ropes binding them, allowing everyone to stretch their limbs and relax.

"This girl can be really mean, but really cool sometimes." Taryn mused. Angel walked straight to the door and tapped in a few numbers, causing it to open.

"Wha…"

"Don't look at me. I don't know how she did that." Samantha said.

"Simple. You watch what numbers they press in." Angel responded. "They're careless. And that's going to be their downfall. Now, if you have any intention of getting your things back, then follow me."

"Well… That escalated quickly." Diana mused.

"It's just like when we first met her…" Oscar trailed off.

"Huh?"

"The situation was different, but… If you look at the big picture, it's exactly the same. We were at Periculum's hands with no options left, and then she showed up." Nathan said.

"Angel… Is really that great?" Diana asked.

"As you can clearly see, yes."

* * *

Sneaking around a base full of enemies was one thing.

Sneaking around a base full of enemies when you can't fight back at all was another.

Despite those odds, the team managed to make it to a room containing a single computer. Currently, Taryn was on it and typing away on the keyboard while the rest of her team stood guard by the door.

"Cracked it yet?"

"Almost."

"It's a good thing these collars don't double as trackers."

"Seriously, don't jinx us…"

"Got it. Let's see here... The main control room is about two-hundred meters from here. It should be… Alright, I know where that is. Since we're here, let's see what we can get." Taryn reached down to her shoes and unzipped the zippers there with a grin.

"Those things weren't just to make you look cool?" Oscar asked.

"It WAS mostly to make me look cool. But I decided to go hide a couple of flash drives and tools in the one place nobody would look." Taryn took out a flash drive and plugged it into the computer. "Copying… Reading… Uh, guys, check this out."

"What is it?"

"It's… What happened back in Virtue City."

"What?"

"Ahem." Taryn took a deep breath. "The testing has yielded so-so results, as described by our superior. The bombs did indeed have a powerful impact on the all the Poison-type denizens under Virtue City. All those who pass by any direct detonation points slowly begin to feel the effects of the Shadow process eating away at their brains, turning them into mindless killing machines. However, no known methods for controlling these creatures has been found— _creatures!?_ " Taryn exclaimed. "Those bastards…"

"As there is no way to control them, the subjects affected by the Shadow Bombs have been sealed within sectors of the sewer systems of the city. The denizens of the Underground have lost a few of their own to the experiment and are working to find a way to keep the situation under wraps from the city itself." Diana read. "But that means…"

"The next experiment will be conducted in the Slums. The defeat of Cythereia the Demon just outside the walls pointed out the potential of the Slums as a testing ground for the Shadow Bombs, once refined." Nathan followed.

"But…" Diana trailed off, pure horror in her eyes.

"After observing the Slums, Resistance-controlled settlements will be targeted next by Periculum's Special Force Agents. Depending on the results, it may prove to be a useful tool for tearing apart at any opposing forces from within- all without the hassle of manipulation and deception."

"Bombs that can turn you into Shadow Pokémon…" Angel trailed off. "They've grown more advanced."

"H-How the hell…"

"Everyone in the city is in danger." Nathan stated. "Although I don't doubt the prowess of the Underground, I do doubt that they'll be able to hold back gijinkas turned monsters like those."

"Do you have any idea how much those guys wanted to kill!?" Taryn exclaimed.

"Taryn…"

"It was like watching something straight out of a horror movie. They were like zombies! They seriously tore apart other Pokémon's limbs and ate them!" Taryn exclaimed. "I will definitely never forgive them for this…!"

"Taryn, cool it." Oscar said quietly. "We might get caught." The Lightning Pokemon took a deep breath and turned her gaze to the screen.

"Then let's get out of here fast."

* * *

The plan was that the team would split up into two groups of three. Taryn, Nathan, and Diana would head to the control room and try to hack the entire base from there, while Angel, Oscar, and Samantha would head the opposite direction and go retrieve their items.

It was exactly as Angel said earlier. While they had a very well hidden base and threatening numbers, the patrols were not that skilled. Thus, the trio were able to easily slip past most of the guards.

At Angel's command, Samantha and Oscar were NOT to take down any guards. Even if they were hidden, there was too much risk, given that they'd only be able to get one or two weapons, if they were lucky.

And of the group, the only ones with firearm experience were Taryn with small arms like pistols, sub machine guns and shotguns, and Nathan to an extent due to his archery proficiency. And most of the weapons carried by the grunts were assault rifles and close-quarter firearms.

"This way." Angel led the Fire- and Water-type past a pair of guards wielding a club and a long knife. Once they were sure they were in the clear, they moved around as normal.

Although Taryn didn't have her phone to help her hack, she managed to use the computer earlier to at least delay and stop surveillance cameras to help them all get through. Currently, according to Taryn, the cameras in the area they were in should be frozen to images of empty rooms and halls, so it was clear for the three Resistance gijinkas to walk normally.

"This whole stealth thing is a lot harder than it looked…" Oscar mumbled.

"Don't worry, Oscar. I'm sure we'll both be able to get better at it soon." Samantha responded.

The team came into a long hallway with glass windows on the left side and a few doors on the right side. The three walked into the hall, and the door automatically closed behind them almost silently. However, they stopped once they saw what was past the glass.

The floor down below in the wide, dark gray room was occupied by a few Pokémon. The catch?

They were all in pure agony.

Samantha put her hands to the glass to get a better look, but stepped back at the sight.

"Reinforced glass…" Oscar mumbled. "What… Is going on down there?"

The gijinkas below weren't just in agony. A strange device in the center of the room protected by what appeared to be a Protect shield emitted strange waves, all while whips, swords, knives, spikes, and the like crawled along the ground held by mechanical arms on the walls continually struck those below. An Emboar was crying, trying to break open the door with whatever force he could muster but it was futile, and the weapons continued to batter his body.

"Wait a second… Those aren't Resistance Pokémon…" Samantha trailed off, terror in her expression.

"Those are innocent people." Oscar barely got the words out as he watched. Angel refrained from watching at first, but at the hesitance of her allies, she too, turned her gaze down below.

Her eyes narrowed at the events. After a minute, one gijinka, a Fomantis, let out one final scream before falling to the ground. His body was in the worst condition, or perhaps he took the most damage- but it was covered in wounds that were likely more painful than they looked. Bad bruises and markings were scattered about, and his clothes were ripped in places, exposing bloodied flesh.

"Eee… EEYAAAAHH! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" A Poliwhirl screamed, his voice somewhat muffled from the glass. He let out a scream as an electric shock ran through his body sent from the walls.

Samantha clasped her hands to her mouth and turned away with her eyes shut tightly.

"This… Is just twisted…" Oscar mused. Samantha had calmed down to a degree after a few deep breaths and tugged on Oscar's jacket.

"We… Have to help them somehow." The Floatzel nodded at her words. The two quickly turned their attention to their teammate standing beside them, watching the display with an expression full of hatred in its purest form. Their attention was caught by a low, _bloodthirsty_ growl emitted from Angel's throat.

"A-Angel…"

The Absol took a deep breath and shook her head.

"When we get our weapons back, don't hesitate to slaughter the scientists." Angel walked briskly past them, headed for the door on the other side of the hallway. "Let's go before the people in these rooms wake up and realize we're here."

Samantha and Oscar turned to the window of one room and quickly ran after Angel once they saw that a Magmortar was waking up.

* * *

"Cameras are down… Now."

The trio of Taryn, Diana, and Nathan moved up at the Electric-type's signal. The three have been making good progress getting to the control room, and Nathan drew them a map earlier with a scratch paper and pencil in the room earlier. They were now two more hallways and a room away from the main control room for the whole base.

"I hope they'll be fine." Nathan whispered.

"They should be. They've got Angel with them."

"Now isn't the time to be worrying about the others. We need to get to that control room first." Diana whispered. The three exchanged a nod and crept into a room full of crates and guards.

"This one's going to be very tricky…"

The three waited for a while, but no matter what, there was no viable way to get around the guards without risk of being spotted. However, patience was key, and they knew there wasn't any other way to the Control Room without losing time.

Suddenly, the alarm rang. Nathan motioned for the girls to hold still in the darkness behind the crates.

"What!? They've escaped!?"

"ATTENTION, ALL UNITS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. INTRUDERS HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED AT SECTOR H-B. INTRUDERS HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED AT SECTOR H-B. ALL UNITS ARE TO CAPTURE THE INTRUDERS. REPEAT. ATTENTION, ALL UNITS…"

" _Sector H-B…? What was there again?_ " Taryn mused inwardly as the guards began leaving. " _C-Storage, Testing Labs, Conversion Rooms_ _… But what are those?_ "

"They've been caught. We need to hurry." Nathan stood up and looked around.

"I'll go vanguard. Let's move up, you two." Diana walked up front helped Taryn up.

* * *

 _13 minutes ago…_

"This'll have to do."

Samantha took a bag and packed it with a medium-sized green gem, a large white gem, and a small fiery orange gem from a desk.

"This is probably Ember… This one could be Safeguard or hopefully Protect… And this green one should be Magical Leaf." Samantha mused.

"It's better than nothing… But those definitely aren't helping us with the whole stealth thing." Oscar commented.

"I've found us some Potions." Angel said, taking three bottles of a clear, bluish purple liquid with her. She handed them to Samantha while Oscar examined a long, metal pole.

"Eh… Could come in handy."

"I thought you were the one who said this isn't helping staying hidden?" Samantha asked. The Floatzel gijinka gave her a goofy smile, eliciting a sigh of exasperation.

"Never hurts to make sure, right? And I DID say that it's better than nothing."

"Whatever. Let's go already. I wanna get this thing off."

The team of Dark, Fire, and Water typings walked and snuck through halls until eventually, they reached the place labeled [CAPTIVE STORAGE]. The space around them was open, with wide hallways providing avenues of escape.

"It's locked… But I can pick this."

"It isn't locked with any tech?"

"It's a secondary lock. I can work around it." Angel crouched down to be eye level with the lock, and examined it closely. "Hmph… _A screwdriver and pin would be useful. Maybe…_ Let's go back. We need to find something we can use to get this open."

"Easier said than done…" Oscar stated as he drew the pole he held with him much like his spear.

"Looks like we've been found." Samantha said. Angel grit her teeth in fury as a pair of guards with a longsword and a handgun appeared.

"H-Hey! We've got intruders at Sector H-B!" The Gulpin holding the pistol exclaimed into a radio. "Th-They're the ones we caught earlier!"

"Oh no you don't!" Oscar managed to slam the Gulpin gijinka away with the metal pole before having to block the sword strike from the Corphish. However, the Ruffian Pokémon was pushed back by a kick from Angel, then knocked out with a slash from her horn.

"This should do for now…" Angel picked up the sword and inspected it. "Samantha, search the nearby rooms. Don't let yourself get caught. Oscar and I will keep them distracted here."

Samantha blinked twice, then nodded.

"Take this one with you, it might help." Samantha handed the large white gem to the two before running off into one of the hallways. Shortly after, more grunts appeared from another hallway.

"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us, huh?" Oscar mumbled.

"Less talking, more fighting."

* * *

"Come on, come on…"

"Taryn, I can't hold them off forever!" Diana exclaimed as she went hand-to-hand with a Machop and a Mankey clad in armor and equipped with steel knuckles. The two pure Fighting-types launched a few Karate Chops, tried a couple of Low Kicks, but Diana deftly avoided each one.

"I know, I've almost got it! Just one more…"

Taryn hurried to type a multitude of things into the keypad with her right hand, and used her left hand to scan a card through the slot. Nathan, on the other hand, remained hidden behind a wall, ready ambush the enemies if they got past Diana.

And while she was having trouble, it didn't look like the enemies were having an easy time. Due to her only moves being Brick Break, Acrobatics, and Poison Jab, she could fight easily as if the collar didn't affect her- all it did was weaken her strength when her reflexes would kick into a move, and prevented the use of Poison Jab.

"I've got it! Let's go!"

Nathan sprinted into the room and sent a kick that knocked down one of the guards there, while Taryn sent the other skidding backwards with a punch.

"Not having my knuckles sucks."

"They're down. I'll make sure they stay that way, focus on helping the others!"

"Gotcha!"

Diana stepped into the room, adjusting her sleeves.

"They sure go all out, huh…?"

The room was filled with large computers that took up portions of the wall. Even more computers filled the center of the room, while the sides between the walls and the center were open. Monitors of varying sizes were in the room, and one wall was dedicated to camera feeds.

"Let's see if I can help out, too."

"Okay, I'll work on getting everything open. First, we need to keep these guys down. Someone go find out where Samantha, Oscar, and Angel are so I can support them. Use the cameras!" Taryn ordered as she tapped the Enter key, causing the doors of the room to shut. "We're going to get very busy."

"I'll handle the cameras." Diana said and approached the system. Nathan stepped to the half-conscious Periculum guard laying on the ground.

"Make this easy, alright?" Nathan asked of the guard, giving a cool and collected gaze.

* * *

"This one is locked too." Samantha said in dismay. "If I was a card to a room full of prisoners, where would I be…?"

Crouched behind a box, Samantha bid her time as more guards passed her by. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she ran for the next door she saw. Thankfully enough, it wasn't locked like the rest, giving her a moment's rest.

"Scientists… They've got to have it, right?" The Braixen looked around. There were a few weapons in the room, but not enough to be an armory. Sadly, she had little to no experience with any of the weapons in the room, nor were there any gems she could use to fight.

Samantha searched around the room, and found a frag grenade. She stuffed the item into the bag she carried and quietly left the room.

"They'd be hiding, so…" Samantha ran through the halls, evading patrols on the way to Oscar and Angel, and reached a room labeled [LABORATORY].

"This is promising."

* * *

"Behind you!"

"Got it!"

Oscar swung his spear in a way that struck behind him, knocking out an attacker with a small axe. The Floatzel lunged forward and took out a Slugma gijinka armed with a shotgun.

Angel's strikes were ferocious enough to draw blood from a few of her hits, forcing back the enemy soldiers with ease despite the overwhelming difference in numbers. The Dark-type sidestepped to evade a Thundershock sent her way.

"Hey, what if we end up taking down the whole base like this?" Oscar jokingly stated as he thrust his makeshift lance into a Blitzle powering up with Charge. He had to block right afterwards to nullify a Snover's shield bash, which Angel dispatched quickly with a couple of strikes.

"Not possible." Angel stated. " _This blade has more reach, but everything else…_ "

"Gah!"

" _Shit._ "

Angel stepped in to take down the greatsword-wielding Sealeo. She turned left immediately to block a knife, another broadsword, and a spear from an Oddish, Basculin, and Tynamo. She took a step back and instantly pushed forward, sending all three to their allies with a little collateral damage.

"Just who IS that girl!?"

"Kill her, it doesn't matter if she lives if she can free the captives!"

"Thanks for the save." Oscar stood back up, now holding the spear the Tynamo dropped. "This'll work much better."

"Good. I can't have my client dying on me." The Floatzel chuckled at the response.

"But you already got your reward for helping us back at the raid on their third base."

"Did you really think I'm not getting any bonuses?" Angel mused before slashing a Silcoon with an SMG.

"Huh… Fair point. Wait, we're in a-"

"-battle." Two more gunners were felled by Angel.

"Dammit, why are the turrets not activating!?" A Nidoking exclaimed.

Oscar's spear managed to land a hit on the Nidoking. The Floatzel backed off before a swing of the sword from the more powerful opponent hit him. However, that didn't save him from being pelted repeatedly by gunfire.

"Angel, this is really starting to hurt!" Oscar exclaimed. In response, Angel threw up the white gem Samantha handed her earlier, causing a Safeguard to form before them, saving them from a Thunder Wave launched from the horde.

"That'll have to do." Angel mused as she dashed forward, slid underneath a couple of guards, and spun around in an attack, knocking back everyone around her. On Oscar's end, he was giving it everything he had to fight so many enemies at once without the aid of Liquidation or Double Hit.

A turret mounted on the ceiling began to spin its three barrels over them, pointing downwards to the fight. Angel gave a hiss at that, having had enough of soaking bullets for one time.

To everyone's surprise, the turret didn't shoot Angel and Oscar. It began mowing down the Periculum soldiers.

"What the-"

"Find cover!"

"Idiot, there is no cover in this room!"

"Get out, get out!"

" _It looked like you guys needed help._ " Taryn's voice echoed on the intercom. " _I've set all the turrets to target any armed gijinkas besides us and whoever is in that room you're trying to break in. I can't open THAT door, but I'm helping Samantha get the key card and key._ "

"Alright, go Taryn!"

" _Do praise me more._ " Taryn's voice stated on the intercom. Oscar gave a laugh at that. " _Everyone's jobs should be easier. After you go open that door up, I'll open up the room with our stuff. It's the hallway down right, at the very end._ "

* * *

"J-Just please, don't hurt us!"

Samantha took the keys and key cards from every scientist in the room. The Braixen girl sighed in relief internally at how easy it was. A grenade was in her hand, while she used the other to tuck away the cards and keys.

"You've been good, so I'll leave now. Don't try anything behind my back, OK?" Samantha quickly hurried out the room and shut the door behind her. "That was way too easy. The scientists in Periculum can't even use their moves on a harmless little girl like me." She giggled at the words and took off for the room she left her friends in.

"Please, be OK…" Samantha stopped in her tracks as a Steelix gijinka wielding a heavy mace appeared in the hall intersection. The Ground- and Steel-type turned her way and grinned.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

"U-Um…"

"What are you gonna do? Flamethrower me into oblivion?" The Steelix asked, approaching slowly.

" _Yes, I will._ "

"Wha-"

"GRRAAAAHHH! I'M ON FIRE!" Dropping his mace, the foe ran away as quickly as he could, his armor burning hot.

"What… Just happened?"

" _This is Taryn Bailey here, at your service, princess._ " The intercom stated. Samantha sighed and smiled.

"Took you long enough! Can you give me an update of the situation?" The Firefox continued on her way down the halls she previously moved through.

" _I've rerouted all the turrets to shoot at these guys for us. Angel and Oscar are still holding the fort, while Diana, Nathan, and I are locked up nice and safe in the control room. You got the key cards and stuff?_ "

"Yeah." Samantha replied. "I don't know how or why a door needs both of these things, though."

" _Me neither. Anyway, hurry up since it won't be long before these guys realize they can still shoot at those two with their guns and their special attacks._ "

"On it!" The fire mage bolted through the halls, hurrying to probably save her friends.

Samantha checked her bag. A Fire Gem, a Grass Gem, an M2 Frag Frenade, and the key cards plus keys she received.

" _I wonder…_ "

"Shoot them! Shoot them!"

Samantha stopped short of the room where a turret was firing on the hallway on the left side of the room for her. Gunfire opened up from that hall, prompting Samantha to run forward.

" _Here goes nothing!_ "

"Samantha!"

"Leaves felled by psychic, burn, and raze those who stand in my way!" Samantha tossed both gems she had towards the hall filled with enemies. She grinned at the result: Magical Leaves set ablaze striking down the Periculum grunts and guards.

"Whoa, that's pretty cool. Kinda like the burning arrow thing you do."

"You have what we need?" Angel queried.

"Yep. Right here."

Soon, the door was unlocked, and as for the captives inside, were set free at the command and sword of Angel.

Following that, the trio made their way with Taryn's help to the room their weapons were kept. And along with their weapons, they found the keys to the collars they had.

"Alright! That feels much better." Oscar raised his own spear, embedded in a watery energy at the tip.

"I never want to wear a collar like that again." Samantha mused as she stuffed her stick back into her tail. "And now, that completes my set."

Angel took her broadsword- the only thing taken from the whole team that was hers. Carefully, she unsheathed the blade, and gave it a swing in the air.

"Wise of them not to touch it." Angel sheathed her blade and turned her gaze to the Water- and Fire-types. "Let's go."

"Yeah. We need to deliver this to the others."

" _You guys might want to hurry up. There's an army banging on our doors, and another one headed right for you!_ " The intercom broadcasting Taryn's voice said.

"And the escapees?" Samantha asked as she and her teammates ran out the room.

" _On their way here, with our cover_ _. These guys will be coming with us until we can get out, so make it snappy!_ "

* * *

"The one thing the Control Room won't have…"

A few scientists and grunts stood in a darkened room. No cameras or speakers were anywhere, and the room looked more like a miniature hangar. The only lights came from flashlights, moves, and the barely opened door behind them.

"Is the key to this place."

"We're seriously going to let this thing out?"

"We can't risk losing every damn captive and the Resistance finding out this base! Besides, we can make more of these!"

"That isn't really easy, though… Semi-Pseudo-Legendaries are hard enough to deal with, so we've had to reserve at least five for each species in case we lost too many."

"How much more for an actual Pseudo-Legendary?"

"Even with that Meloetta and that ridiculously strong Absol, they'll NEVER get past this."

The sheets came off, revealing a rather large metallic gijinka figure…

* * *

"Water Pulse!"

"Freeze!"

"Ahh, it feels good to be doing this again."

Blasts of water struck down the enemies ahead, followed by a thin beam of ice to freeze everyone over. Not even a second passed before a Flamethrower razed the frozen enemies, making them scream in pain from the drastic changes in their temperatures.

The door to the control room opened up, where Nathan was standing.

"Quickly!" The owl archer exclaimed.

As they made their escape into the room, Samantha's Shock Wave zapped down anyone who dared to stand from the pain. The door closed right after, giving the three a moment to relax.

"Great going out there." Taryn said as she approached. Samantha tossed the bag over to her Jolteon friend. "Ah, I missed these things! I can't do too much damage without them."

"Ah, that's right, Jolteon are fast special attackers, aren't they?" Diana asked as she took the key to the collar binding her.

"Yeah, and we don't learn a lot of good physical attacks anyway. But I like this fighting style more than just focusing on ranged attacking."

Nathan took the arrows he kept with him back into his cloak, Taryn re-equipped her buckler and her knuckles, while Diana took back a small pouch.

"Say, and these guys…?"

Samantha turned her gaze to the numerous amount of Pokémon- most wounded, half of them asleep, and in two cases, had fresh wounds.

"We're going to get them out of here, no matter what it takes." Taryn said.

"She's managed to send a signal to the Resistance. We can try holding out here as long as we can, or we can push through the base to an exit." Nathan said. Samantha and Oscar sighed in relief as they sat on the floor, while Angel relaxed slightly.

"I'm tired from all that fighting." Oscar mused. "I know I'm the team tank and all, but seriously."

"Anyways, what's the plan?" Diana cracked her knuckles. "Now that we're all here, we can decide."

"We'll fight our way through." Angel stated.

"Knew it."

"As for them…" Angel looked to the captives they worked hard to free from Periculum's grasp. She approached them, careful not to startle them. "Can any of you work this place?"

"H-Huh?"

"Angel?"

"I'm not going to wait for them to destroy these doors." The Disaster Pokémon gijinka said. "Clear the path to the exit. Get everyone out. Nobody dies. To be able to do that, the six of us will fight our way to the exit and take out as many of them as we can. Once we've done that, we'll come back and escort these gijinkas out."

"Angel…"

"It sounds crazy. Gimme a break and I'm in." Oscar said as he lay down on the steel floor.

"I suppose everyone agrees, then." Nathan mused as he adjusted his cloak, now that he was free of the collar. "And you want them to handle the control room to make sure Periculum doesn't get in very easily?" Angel nodded.

"W-We can do it, miss! Just show us… Show us what to do!"

Taryn sighed in exasperation.

"It's one thing after the other, huh?" She grinned as she stood up from her seat on the railing. "Alright. I'll teach you guys how to bully these Periculum idiots back."

* * *

"HAAA!"

Just like Angel said, the Resistance team was back in the battle, with the captives' support through the control room. They pushed up through the quickest route out of the base, based off the maps Taryn checked, and of course, everyone was rested at least a little and the captives were taught the full controls to the defenses and traps the base held.

With enough force, Angel and her bronze broadsword pushed back against a Jellicent's axe supported by a Helping Hand from a Plusle. A Night Slash left a nasty scar in the man's armor, oozing out a dark blue goo.

"Agh…"

" _No mercy._ " Angel thought to herself as she sliced away at her opponents, leading her team through the corridors. " _Any of these bastards supporting that damn project… I'll slaughter them!_ "

Taryn's Thunderbolt tore through a number of enemies struck with Oscar's Water Pulse and a Whirlpool from a water gem in Samantha's inventory. Nathan shot arrows into the barrels of the guns, rendering the weapons useless, while Diana covered the back of the group with savage Brick Breaks.

"The exit is just past this next room!" Taryn exclaimed.

"So we'll just have to beat them here, huh?" Oscar asked.

"With pleasure." Nathan stated as his eyes glowed a bright blue, allowing him to land more focused hits.

"Die." Angel stabbed a Pyroar in the chest, which sent the Normal-type flying into a wall. " _He wasn't weakened enough._ " Despite that, Angel focused her attacks on what was in front of her. Shadow Balls, Ice Beams, and Double Teams allowed her to push past the grunts shooting at her.

"We're here!"

"This is where the real fight begins! Ready?"

"We've been at it for a while now, what do you think?"

"STAND BACK!" A voice boomed from one side of the room, gaining everyone's attention. A Magmortar gijinka donning Periculum's armor along with fireproofed armor lowered his hand as his arm turned into a cannon. He shot an explosive blast of fire aimed at the wall next to him, tearing a large hole right through. The Fire-type ducked away from the explosion as a roar echoed through it. The Periculum grunts noticing a faint red glow from inside, they all scurried out the room with only a few able to watch from the end of the hallway.

"They actually did it…"

"That experimental thing!? You've got to be kidding!"

"For all the trouble you've caused, have this!" The Magmortar exclaimed before backing himself into the corner.

From the hole, a large figure shot forward, forcing the main cast to step away so as not to be struck. When the smoke from the explosion and the lunge cleared, the team widened their eyes in shock.

Before our favorite heroes stood a metal gijinka with sharp yellow eyes, blue paint, red wing-like appendages with small thrusters around the edges, and a large axe in its clawed hands.

"Oh, come on…"

With a synthetic roar, the beast stomped on the ground and brandished its axe.

"Well, here we go…"

 **[Boss – Robo Salamence]**

"FLAMETHROWERS, ACTIVATING."

"Oh, these things can breathe FIRE now!?"

The metal beast fired torrents of fire from its thrusters and mouth, coating the walls with flames. The front row spectators could be heard screaming at the flames approaching them, while the Magmortar gijinka made a fast escape out the hole he burst open.

As for the Resistance team, all of them managed to dodge, but only barely. Angel dashed forward, with a dark energy coating her blade. Samantha fired off a Psybeam to go with Nathan's arrow. All three attacks connected, and Angel backed away.

Despite the attacks, the Salamence lunged forward is if it was never hit. Angel parried the blow, but grunted as she was sent back by a literal and normal Steel Wing before she could counterattack.

"It's fast, I'll give it that…" Diana mused.

"But not fast enough." Taryn disappeared from view, then reappeared behind the robot, striking it with her knuckles before shooting off a Shadow Ball. The dragon swung its axe to attack, which Taryn dodged, but that led her right into a swing from its tail.

"My turn!" Oscar moved in with his spear, shooting small Water Pulses at the beast. Nathan provided support with arrows and Razor Leaves, and once Oscar was close enough, he leapt into the air to use Liquidation.

Before his attack connected, however, the Salamence swung the axe upwards, knocking Oscar away. Angel sliced at the robot, drawing its attention from further attacking her Water-type ally.

"I don't know how robots work, so is that thing a Steel-type?" Diana queried.

"No. Robots, even with their bodies, retain the typing of the original Pokémon, and usually only have moves that their species can use. But robots with Flamethrower is something new." Samantha explained.

"I see…" Diana paused. "Are you telling me I can't damage that thing!?"

"You only use three moves, Diana… Don't you have at least four?" Samantha asked. Meanwhile, in the background, Nathan evaded a strike from the axe, and the Salamence spun around after to keep away Taryn, Oscar, and Angel.

"Well… It's a long story. For now…" Diana charged forward, leaping into the air as her body glowed with a light blue tint. "This'll have to do!"

"Diana…" Samantha watched as the Mythical leapt into the fray and struck the robot with Acrobatics. "Alright then. I can't afford to lose either." The Braixen drew her stick, igniting the tip and powering a Flamethrower.

Oscar's Liquidation landed a blow on the opponent's tail. Taryn and Angel both fired Shadow Balls from two sides, while Diana sent a Poison Jab on the boss' back.

" _She wasn't kidding. Poison Jab is doing damage, if a little._ "

"Hm!"

As the Salamence was about to swing, Angel leapt up and intercepted the move with her sword, pouring a Night Slash into it to increase power. But once again, Steel Wing caught her along with Oscar before she could parry.

Diana and Taryn both jumped back to evade the attack, while Nathan blew a small Haze through the room.

"That should take care of the defense buff Steel Wing gives." Nathan mused.

Samantha ran forward and drew a light bluish gem from her regular bag and tossed it towards the Salamence. Catching the drift, Angel formed a tiny orb of ice in her free hand and fired an Ice Beam at the Dragon robot.

"LOW TEMPERATURE DETECTED. ACTIVATING FLAMETHROWERS."

But before the Ice Gem and Ice Beam could connect, flames spurt from the thrusters and mouth of the monster. The fire nearly scorched Nathan going in with a close-range Razor Leaf, and struck Taryn who was attacking up close.

The beast swung its axe hard, scoring a direct hit on Diana and Oscar. The attack sent the two flying to the burning walls with screams of pain, followed by another scream from the fires.

"This is really bad…" Nathan mumbled.

"I'll treat them! Keep it off me!" Samantha exclaimed as she ran for her friends, leaving Angel, Taryn, and Nathan to fight the robotic menace head on.

"Well… This just got a lot more fun." Taryn coughed as she stood back up.

"No kidding. Those flames won't be easy to put out." Nathan said.

Angel fired a Shadow Ball at the Salamence and rushed in, following her attack. The beast took both the special attack and a swipe from her sword. Unfazed, the boss clawed at Angel, forcing the girl back.

A menacing aura formed quickly around the robot husk. Its head turned to face Taryn, and within moments, a Dragon Rush was coming for the Jolteon.

"Crap." Taryn sped up with Agility to move out of the way before sending Stored Power the enemy's way. Nathan added insult to injury with Spirit Shackle, trapping the Salamence to its spot.

"This should do it." Angel flew into Double Team, creating copies of herself that all rushed the Salamence with their swords. In response, the robot pulled its axe out of the floor and began swiping at them, occasionally using Steel Wing on those who drew too close. " _An attack pattern... I need to find what angle would be the best._ "

Angel's Double Team ran out quickly. Taryn and Nathan took that as their cue to begin attacking, the Jolteon hacker speeding forward and sending a flurry of attacks while Nathan shot arrow after arrow, looking for a weak point.

"It's no use… I can hardly damage him without consuming my Spirit Shackles." Nathan stated as he drew back an arrow wrapped in ghostly energy.

"And none of us can do a lot of damage with those Flamethrowers in the way- CRAP!" Taryn, unable to dodge the next swing, blocked the attack with her buckler, which only served to keep her from taking too much damage by being blown away.

Nathan took the opportunity to jump onto the robot's back and begin stabbing at its body with his stilleto. It was doing slightly more damage than his arrows and Razor Leaves, spurring him to attack further with stabs and a few scratching attacks.

"Fall…!" Night Slash struck the front of the Salamence, diverting its attention from the Decidueye on his back. In response, the robot used Steel Wing to shake off Nathan while at the same time, force Angel to block the attack.

A large boulder suddenly struck the opponent, followed by a Shock Wave.

"We're not done just yet!" Diana exclaimed as she leapt back into the fray with Poison Jab, allowing Angel to get away before the axe caught her.

"To be able to use Ice-type damage, we're going to have to disable its Flamethrowers somehow." Nathan mused. " _We probably can't stop it from firing from its mouth- that would be the same as defeating it without Angel's Ice Beam. But if it only has one Flamethrower protecting it, then…_ The wings."

"On it, Nathan!"

"Looks like we've got a new target: cripple this guy's wings!" Oscar exclaimed. "Maybe this'll help!"

Liquidation scored a direct hit against the white, armored plates adorning the Salamence's torso. The beast roared and chomped down his way, but missed as the Floatzel rolled left and Double Hit the Dragon.

Thanks to that distraction, a double Shadow Ball from Angel and Taryn struck the beast's wings. Samantha and Diana were hard at work as well, shooting off Psybeams and attacking with Acrobatics to further weaken the monster.

"STATUS REPORT… HEALTH REMAINING: 64%. STATUS CONDITION… ARMOR BREAK, DEFENSE -1. APPLYING AUTO POTIONS."

"Heh, feels like the first one, doesn't it?" Oscar mused as a shield formed around the beast, keeping out all their attacks.

"Except we're better now. And it has Protect." Samantha said exasperatedly. "So it can heal itself while it's under that shield. Maybe we can try using Ice-type attacks again?" The Braixen turned her gaze to Angel, whose sword was glowing with dark energy.

"It'll use Flamethrower again." Angel stated. "This one's AI is much more advanced than the rest."

Nathan drew back an arrow as his eyes glowed brightly. " _It isn't Laser Focus or Mind Reader, but Foresight will extend my vision, if only a little… If I can spot a weakness in those wings…_ "

"Look out!"

"Huh?" Nathan let go of the arrow in his hand, watching as the robot charged at him with another Dragon Rush.

Nathan grunted and coughed out blood from the impact of the attack.

"Get out of there, Nathan!" Samantha screamed at the top of her lungs. Nathan opened his eyes to find the Salamence about to bring its axe down onto him.

"No, you won't!"

A spear clashed against the Salamence's arm, throwing off its aim and making the axe strike the floor next to the Decidueye.

Mechanical clanking was heard, forcing the Salamence to jump away. When Nathan got up, he found Angel was there, looking a little burnt.

"What…"

"Hmph."

The left wing of the robot was damaged, and it didn't look like a Potion would be fixing that any time soon.

"Urk…"

"Will you be alright?" Diana asked as she and the others ran to the Decidueye's side. Angel spared them a glance before taking a battle stance as she faced her opponent.

" _Advanced AI. High speed stat. Effort values centered around Speed and Attack. Technology provides its defenses. Moveset: Flamethrower, Protect, Dragon Rush, Steel Wing. Ice Beam would take it down quickly if I get rid of those wings, and it looks like Nathan's realized it already._ " Night Slash materialized onto the bronze blade. " _That should make this easier._ "

Wordlessly, Angel rushed forward to meet the Salamence's axe.

" _Taking out its wings disables Steel Wing and the thrusters on its back, limiting its speed, but not its reflexes. Then again, robots don't have intuition._ " Angel rolled out of the Steel Wing and jumped to avoid the axe swing. " _I've been underperforming as of late. Time to remedy that._ "

"Angel…"

A ball of ice formed in Angel's palm, indicating an Ice Beam. Rather than shooting it, she thrust her hand forward as near the Salamence's head possible.

"ACTIVATING FLAMETHROWERS." Angel jumped back, her Ice Beam vanishing as she landed on her feet. The Dragon robot sprayed flames around itself, before shooting them towards the rest of the main cast.

Taryn and Samantha barely managed to keep the attack back with Thunderbolt and her own Flamethrower. Diana turned around to see that some of the Periculum grunts were beginning to return to the hallway and through the hole in the wall.

"I haven't seen her in action too much, but I think I can count on her." Diana said.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"Look over there."

"You're kidding…"

"OPEN FIRE!"

Angel narrowed her eyes and dropped into Double Team, sending half her clones to rush the Salamence and the other half to the enemies gathering in the room.

"Nathan, Samantha, you're with me." Angel stated as she let the illusions of herself distract the enemy. She now stood with her team. "We'll focus on the robot. The rest of you deal with the grunts."

"Huh, hogging all the glory?" Oscar asked with a grin.

"If you say so… Then I'll believe in you." Diana said as she sprinted back to the hallway and sent a Brick Break onto the first grunt with an MP5-A6.

"We could barely fight that thing with all six of us, you sure?" Taryn asked. Angel's cold gaze spoke volumes to the Jolteon, who sighed. "Alright, geez." Taryn disappeared with Agility, electrifying all the enemies at the wall.

"And I guess I'll be there to make sure they don't get hit." Oscar mused as he picked up his spear and smirked. "Try not to die here." The Floatzel mused as he moved in to support the team's speedsters.

"Well then… What's your plan?" Nathan asked as the Potion healed the wound on his torso.

"Same as yours." Angel stated before shooting multiple Shadow Balls at the Dragon robot and charging forward.

"Huh? Am I missing something?" Samantha asked.

"The wings." Nathan replied. "We're going to take those out so Angel can use Ice Beam to finish it off."

"Oh, is that it? Then this should be easy. Taryn's taught me to clip them with electricity anyway."

"Right. Let's go!"

The two ran into the battle, shooting burning arrows towards the Salamence.

Samantha switched into Psybeam at Nathan's command. The two supported Angel's assault as she drew closer and closer to the enemy trying to keep its distance.

" _Fall._ "

Angel's Night Slash scored a critical hit onto the Salamence's armor, earning her a Steel Wing for the trouble. Ignoring the pain, the Absol girl made numerous quick slashes before sliding underneath the larger enemy and stabbing the right wing with her sword.

"THRUSTERS OFFLINE. PLATE ARMOR DESTROYED. FIGHTING CONDITION IS NOT OPTIMAL." A mechanical voice worded out from inside the robot, who let out a mechanical screech before shooting a Flamethrower with is mouth to attack Angel.

Angel threw a Shadow Ball to delay the attack and moved away, giving Samantha the opportunity to hurl a small Ice gem at the Salamence.

"Ha!"

"Now we're making progress!" Nathan exclaimed, firing a few arrows for good measure.

The robot screeched and attempted to fire a Flamethrower downwards to rid itself of the Ice-type move. Once its sensors were no longer cold, an Ice Beam struck the beast directly in its exposed midsection.

"We've got it on its last legs." Samantha mused before firing a Psybeam at the Salamence. Nathan shot a Spirit Shackle, dealing further damage to the target.

In a final attack, the robot charged straight for the two of them with Dragon Rush. Neither of their attacks were strong enough or packed enough punch to be able to stop their enemy, and at the speed it was going, they wouldn't be able to dodge.

But right before the axe was about to make contact with them, a certain Disaster slammed into the robot from the side with a broadsword, knocking it away. Angel let loose one more Ice Beam at the staggering robot, freezing it over.

"Hah… We… Did it." Samantha coughed. Nathan took a deep breath. "The others-"

"All taken care of!" Taryn happily said as she walked over to the fox mage and owl archer.

"Confronting them when they were as scared of us as they were of that robot made things so much easier." Diana explained.

"I see."

"Looks like you managed to get that Salamence 'bot too." Oscar remarked as the team turned their attention to the frozen robot.

"It looks like they've run out of forces." Angel quietly mumbled before turning her gaze to her team. "Go get the rest of the captives out of here. I'll work on getting the door open."

"That won't be necessary."

Angel and company turned their attention to their supposed exit. There, a large number of Pokémon armed were waiting there. However, they did not don the generic Periculum armor- instead, the Resistance emblem was on their gear.

"You guys…"

"Gee, you sure outdid yourselves." A Pelipper with a bazooka on his back remarked. "To defeat an entire base and take down a pseudo-legendary-robot all by yourselves? That sure is something."

"Alright people, let's move in!"

"Oorah!"

"Don't worry about the civilians. We'll get them out safe and see to their wounds." The Pelipper stated before following the rest of the bunch into the base.

"Thanks. Takes a load off us." Oscar replied.

"Your team deserves a break. Come on up to the surface- we're already getting set up."

"Wait. We have a request." Taryn stated. Samantha, picking up on her intent, also joined her, much to the surprise of the others.

"And that is…?"

"…Did you bring any video games or PCs?"

* * *

"Ah, that feels SO much better."

The monitor before Samantha displayed a VICTORY screen with her team scoring the most points. She hi-fived the Jolteon gijinka seated next to her.

"Definitely. Been too long since we played anything."

"I wonder how you're like that after all the chaos in the base…" Diana trailed off with a wry smile and a sigh. She glanced to the other side of the room- Oscar and Nathan were playing as well, although not action-games like the two girls were.

"Oscar, put that spear away. We're trying to do this without special effects."

"Come on, man, it's been long enough."

"No. Put the poison spear away."

Choosing to ignore them for now, Diana walked to the window. Currently, the five were in one of the emptied houses in the town over the base they took out. The Resistance was everywhere, fortifying the location, dealing with any Periculum stragglers, moving in and out of the base, and most of all, tending to the Pokémon taken from their homes to be experimented on.

Among those guarding the place from further threat was none other than the other member of their team: Angel. The mysterious mercenary who decided to join the team for a time shortly before Diana herself met them. It was that day she truly saw the power and skill her new comrade had- rather than listening to stories of her exploits from her new friends and other members of the Resistance.

" _She's a whole lot stronger than I thought she'd be._ " Diana mused inwardly. " _Why did she never show that strength before?_ "

"We may need to switch tactics…" Samantha mused nervously.

"Maybe… Maybe if we shotgun them?"

"No, that wouldn't exactly work…"

* * *

"We've got everyone out." A Magnemite gijinka stated. "As for those you may have been expecting, we've found that they're dead. A few reports we've found state that not a single one of the townsfolk from here and other locations survived the process of becoming a Shadow Pokémon in this base."

"I see. What else?"

Angel listened intently to the Magnemite's report as she stood before some of the Periculum forces that were captured. As much as she wanted to tear open the cage with her sword and slaughter them all, she knew they'd be more useful alive- if they were so careless in running that base that she and her team escaped and snuck through the base easily and failed all their Shadow experiments, then they'd be easy to crack for information.

"We've discovered more Periculum-controlled towns in the North, West, and Center portions of Driasia- much like this one, masquerading as neutral territories. We're currently sending all findings to the nearest Resistance base, and from there, it will spread to the entire country. Within the hour, we should be done with information processing- all that should be left is the base itself."

"Good. Dismissed." The Magnemite nodded and drew a pump action shotgun before heading into the base through the secret entrance.

" _It doesn't seem like this place has the data I need either._ " Angel thought. " _The ruins in the snowfields better have something useful there. It's getting more and more dangerous now…_ "

Angel reflected on what happened on her first mission with the team- specifically, how the Machamp guarding the generator knew who she was. So far, it didn't seem like anyone else recognized her, but if he did, then who else would? For all she knew, those who did might have escaped in one of their raids and reported her presence.

Little did she know that a nameless girl had already beat them all to it.

* * *

The next morning, everyone was up and about, the civilians returning to their old houses and businesses. For those who were not from this town, they were allowed to stay in whichever house they liked- assuming nobody owned it already. The Resistance and townsfolk shared in everything from supplies to roofs.

Shops were busy re-opening, and the town, rather than an empty, misty relic, became a lively place booming with business.

The Periculum base down below would be remodeled into a bunker for the citizens, doubling as a base for the Resistance. While that too, was important, it was low on the priority list- for the Resistance, along with their leaders, wanted to focus on the happiness, safety, and welfare of the citizens.

As for our favorite group of heroes…

"Eh?"

"That's right, she'll be accompanying you guys for the time being."

They stood before a rather beautiful girl standing at 5'5. She donned a light brown dress coated from top to bottom in feathers. Tan fur at the back made way for a pair of wings suited for extended flight. Red, shoulder-length hair and a pair of kind, yet commanding black eyes examined the main cast.

"A pleasure to meet you. My name's Kotori. I'll be in your care." The woman said with a bow.

"Not that we mind or anything, but when did…"

"It's an order from Tobias himself. She's an apparent friend of the Master."

"Okay. You sure you'll be alright in the cold?" Oscar asked. Kotori, the Fearow gijinka, nodded.

"I'm fine with cold, caves, and especially electricity." She smiled as she said the words, earning looks of curiosity and mild surprise among those standing around her.

"S-She doesn't have any weak terrains…"

"It's really rare, but… I guess it does happen." Diana mused. "Well, the more the merrier."

"Definitely." Samantha stated. She bowed slightly to Kotori and smiled. "Well, whatever it is Tobias wants, we'll make sure you're safe."

"Thank you. I'm looking forward to traveling alongside you." Kotori responded.

" _She's much more refined than most Fearow._ " Angel thought. " _Something else is different about her, but what…?_ "

"Hey, Nathan, don't try anything funny with her, alright?" Oscar joked, earning a light elbow from the owl archer.

"Haha, very funny, Oscar."

"Oh, so are you saying she's that pretty?" Taryn asked. The Floatzel coughed to clear his throat.

"Of course she is. But we aren't in the same egg group."

"You-"

"You're proudly stating that you'd bang me if you were the Decidueye." Kotori stated blankly, cutting of the Jolteon who was about to say that.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

At that, even Angel gave them a ridiculous stare.

"W-Wha…" Kotori stuck her tongue out at everyone, much to their (even more) surprise.

"I think I'm going to enjoy traveling with this girl." Taryn commented.

"I second that." Samantha added.

"Thirds." Diana mused.

"…Just who are you again?"

"A friend of Tobias'. Anything wrong with that?" Kotori asked smugly. The aide, confused by the turn of events, slowly inched away to go help himself to omelet breakfasts in town.

And so, the civilian who was temporarily added to the team, Kotori, would make their group even livelier than it already was.

* * *

"Raguel's made contact, then?"

"She has. She phoned me earlier this morning, after she met them."

Tobias sat in the command center with his Liepard assistant placing a tray of food and drink onto the desk before him.

"Fast as always. How was it?" The Flygon gijinka asked.

"She enjoyed meeting them. And she's done well to hide herself from Taryn and Diana's senses. As for Angel, she finds herself intrigued." The Liepard gijinka replied.

"Alright. Oh, and Viria?"

"Yes, Tobias?" Viria, the assistant asked.

"This wasn't my order."

"…Oh. My apologies."

"Nah, it's fine. Unless someone else ordered this. Then again, I don't think they'll mind what I had."

"But that's…"

* * *

"IT'S HOT! HOT, HOT, HOT!"

"SOMEONE PUT OUT THAT FLAMETHROWER!"

The Resistance was in a panic as a Snover gijinka was sweating like crazy and shooting _fire_ from his mouth.

"What's all the rucku- WHAT THE HECK!?" Rita screamed as she beheld the mess hall coated in food-induced-flames.

"I-It's Starlight! Please, help us!"

"I'm an Espeon, not a Vaporeon! Go get him some water or ice or something, I don't know!"

* * *

"…Extremely spicy."

"I don't see the problem there." Tobias mused. Viria sighed at that.

"I'll go put out the fires."

"Alright. Oh, and while you're at it, feel free to give Rita an update on her team."

"As you wish, Master."

* * *

"Our deepest apologies, my lady. But we have had no success in locating that girl."

In the dark room, the Gliscor gijinka bowed, alongside a Ferrothorn, Toxapex, and an Alakazam.

"No matter our efforts, she's untraceable." The Alakazam continued. "We've had every last Periculum unit's aid, even that of the Spies and the President's personal forces, but they turned up with nothing. It's as if she doesn't exist."

"Hmm…" Red eyes shone with a purple glint. "But of course, all of us know she does exist, right?"

"Y-Yes, my lady." The Ferrothorn responded.

"After all, she was skilled enough to break into this base and find this room, just to have a game of chess with _me_. As one of the scientists there, you should have seen her in the halls, yes?" the Alakazam nodded.

"My lady, even our infiltrators in the Slums cannot find her. She has no records whatsoever, and everyone- both inside and outside Periculum, believe that no such person exists." The Toxapex explained.

"Hm… Then, I'll just have to let fate decide if I'll meet her again. You're all dismissed, return to your previous duties."

"Yes, my lady!"

As the door closed, the girl took a deep breath.

"How annoying… I wonder what kind of Pokémon she is, to be able to elude Periculum like that. The Resistance keeping me from finding that _other_ girl isn't very appreciated, either…"

The girl walked over to the large monitor and began typing on the keyboard.

"Dearest President…"

* * *

 _That. Was difficult to write. I considered throwing in more cameos and stuff, but I suppose that's enough for now._

 _For those still reading this story, thanks for sticking around when I'm being such a dolt. I hope you're liking what's out so far. The content I mentioned is going to be much later (for plot reasons, evidently), but I'll be sure it comes out. Segment 3 will contain most of that, and the end of Segment 2 will contain that one thing I know most of you are probably waiting for._

 _If you wanna help out here, maybe drop a review or something. I'd love to know what you think so far._


End file.
